In financial matters, no matter how amicable your relationship with the other party is, it is important to draw a line in the sand between your intermingled financial life and your future financially independent selves. To do this you need  to formalise your agreement in a legally binding document known as Consent Orders or in appropriate circumstances Binding Financial Agreements. By  making legal the agreement that you and your former partner have reached  now, you can prevent disagreement and conflict that can arise over informal arrangements in the future. A lawyer can assist you in drafting your agreement in a manner that ensures it is enforceable and acceptable to the court. A lawyer may also assist you in making provision in the orders or Financial Agreement for those issues that sometimes arise when separating family finances.

If an agreement is reached about the care of the children, then it can be useful for the agreement to be reduced to writing in the form of either Consent Orders or a Parenting Plan. The benefit of writing down the agreement is that everyone knows what they are doing and what is expected. Reducing your agreement to writing when you are amicable with your ex partner can avoid arguments in the future. A lawyer can assist you to identify and resolve potential issues that face parents who are co-parenting after separation.

Consent orders are the most simple way to formalise the financial agreement you have reached with the other party. A Binding Financial Agreement is another option available to parties when both of you are legally represented.

When you reach an agreement about care arrangements for your children,  you may consider entering into either Consent Orders or a Parenting Plan. A Parenting Plan is a way of creating a formal agreement about parenting, without applying for orders in the family court. Consent parenting Orders create enforceable obligations about the care of the children having regard to the children’s best interests.

 Consent orders, once they are signed by both parties, will be filed in the court and  once the application has been approved by a Judicial Registrar,  the orders will have the same force as if a judge had determined your matter at a final hearing if:

— With regard to parenting orders the court considers that the agreement are in the best interests of the child(ren); and

— With respect to financial orders the court considers that the agreement is considered to be fair and just in your circumstances.

Yes. You can make an application for consent orders concerning parenting, property, or parenting and property.

There are also other options for finalising your agreement including Binding Financial Agreements and Parenting Plans.

Generally the answer is no. The consent orders can be filed electronically and if the court is satisfied that the proposed agreement meets the needs of the children (in the case of parenting) and is just and equitable (in the case of property) then you will not be required to appear. The court may on occasion ask for further details (requisitions) in relation to the agreement reached or on rare occasions the court will ask for parties to appear to provide further details of how the agreement reached meets the needs of the children or why the proposed property orders are just and equitable.