Relationships covered by law

The Family Court can make Orders dividing relationship property when you’ve been married or in a civil union or de facto relationship.

Marriage and civil unions

Marriage is a legally recognised relationship between two people. Marriage is defined as “the union of two people, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity”.

A civil union is a legally recognised relationship. It’s like a marriage and has the same rights and obligations under law. A couple can enter a civil union whether they’re the same or different sexes.

Both a marriage and a civil union legally comes to an end when the Family Court issues a Dissolution (divorce) Order.

Different rules apply for dividing up property, depending on whether you’ve been married or in a civil union for less than 3 years or more than 3 years.

If you were living as a de facto couple before your marriage or civil union, that time will be treated as if it were part of the marriage or civil union.

De facto relationships

In most cases, only people who have lived together in a de facto relationship for at least 3 years are covered unless there is a child involved or 1 partner has made a significant contribution to the relationship.

Defining a de facto relationship

The court will look at many things when deciding whether 2 people are in a de facto relationship, including:

how long the relationship lasted
the extent to which the couple share a home
whether they have a sexual relationship
their financial and property arrangements and how much they depend on each other
their ownership, use and purchase of property
how committed they‘ve both been to a shared life
their care and support of children
who does the housework and other household duties
if the partners are known to family and friends or other people as a couple.

It's a good idea to talk to a lawyer to find out if your relationship is covered.

If you’re 16 or 17 you’ll need the permission of your parents to be in a de facto relationship.

No legal steps are needed to begin or end a de facto relationship.

Community Law Manual – de facto relationships(external link)

This page was last updated: 19th December 2023