When people separate (whether from a marriage or a de facto relationship), they usually need to sort out how to divide their assets and debts between them. The term ‘property settlement’ therefore refers to the process of negotiating which party is going to keep which assets and liabilities, making the agreement legally binding, and then taking the steps to implement the agreement.

It’s important that you take the appropriate time to come to terms with the separation, ensure that you are in a good headspace and have support systems around you before attending to the legal arrangements for separation. Click here to read some of our practical tips for approaching separation.

When going through a separation, it is important that you and your former spouse formalise a final property settlement and take the necessary steps to ensure that your financial ties to each other are cut. However, the process of negotiating and ideally reaching an agreement for a property settlement, making it binding and then implementing the agreement can often take some time.

Separations can often be quite complex giving rise to many issues that result in family lawyers needing to collaborate with solicitors in other practice areas (such as commercial or superannuation law), but we can also be greatly assisted by the parties’ professional advisers.