What are Consent Orders?
When two people separate, they often want to formalise an agreement they’ve reached around how to divide their financial assets or care arrangements for their children.
This is what a Consent Order lets them do. Or, in more legal terms: a Consent Order in NSW is made when two parties submit their proposed agreement to the Family Court of Australia or the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, and the agreement is sealed by the Court and made into a legally binding document.
Any agreement that becomes a Consent Order has the same legal effect as if the judge made the Order after a contested hearing. However, the big difference is that you don’t have to go through the expense and stress of the entire court process. In fact, you don’t even need to go to Court at all.
Consent Orders are an ideal way to finalise your financial ties with your ex-partner and allow you to move forward independently and with certainty.
Consent Orders – what Is the purpose ?
A Consent Order will finalise your property settlement and ensure your former partner does not pursue you for another property settlement at any stage in the future. If you are transferring a property from joint names to one party’s name, you can get a stamp duty exemption if you have a Consent Order.
What is the benefit of a Consent Orders over a parenting plan?
A parenting plan is not legally binding nor legally enforceable. You cannot take a parenting plan to court and ask the court to enforce it. A Consent Order in NSW is legally binding and enforceable and you can take your Consent Orders back to court and have them enforced if they have been breached.
What is the application process for a family court Consent Order?
You need to file an Application for Consent Orders in NSW which gives the court relevant background and a basis upon which to determine that the Orders are fair, which it must find before making them. You then need to file a Minute of Order which sets out in detail the Orders that you’re asking to be made
