Consent Orders are Orders that you agree on and are then made by the Court in your absence.

Consent Orders can be in relation to parenting or financial matters.  In order for Consent Orders to be filed, a document known as a Financial Statement must be prepared and filed with your Application for Consent Orders.  The Financial Statement will include details of all of your financial circumstances.  In this document, you have a duty to disclose all of the property/debt that you own or owe including Superannuation.

It is highly recommended to finalise your financial relationship as these documents, once sealed by the Court are very hard to overturn.  It is very hard to come back and seek more property once these documents are final and this can only be done in limited circumstances.

You should seek legal advice from an experienced Family Lawyer before you sign off on any Consent Orders.

The Court has to decide whether the Orders are just and equitable and if so they will then become a Court Order and legally binding.

Consent Orders are especially important if one of you is to keep the family home.

If there are Orders in place, you will not be liable for stamp duty on the transfer of the home, if it is in joint names.  For instance, if the house is valued at $560,000 you would be saving approximately $20,000 in stamp duty.

For an experienced Family Lawyer to draft Consent Orders, a reasonable estimate of costs would be between $3,000 and $5,000.

If you need legal advice in relation to your Family Law issues, call Ruth Single on 4324 7699.