Property settlements after separation
A property settlement decides who keeps what after a relationship ends. It covers everything either of you owns or owes, whatever the name on the title, including the house, superannuation, businesses, inheritances and debts.
There is no rule that everything is halved. The law asks what is just and equitable in your particular circumstances, and the answer moves depending on what each of you brought in, what each of you contributed, and what each of you needs going forward. We act for people at both ends of that range.
What we help with
Situations we act in
We are commonly asked to help with:
- Dividing the home, savings, vehicles and personal property after a separation
- Splitting superannuation, including defined benefit and self managed funds
- Settlements involving a business, a trust or a company structure
- Working out how an inheritance or a gift from family is treated
- Debts, including a mortgage shortfall or a debt one of you ran up alone
- Turning an agreement you have already reached into consent orders
- Matters where one person controls the money and the other does not know what is there
- De facto separations, where the rules are the same but the time limit is different
How we approach it
How Ben and Troy run a property settlements matter
Property matters are won on preparation and lost on assumption. That shapes how we run them.
- We work out what the pool actually is first
- Before anyone argues about percentages there has to be an agreed list of what exists and what it is worth. That includes superannuation, which is property and can be split, and it includes debts. Arguing about a share of a pool nobody has defined is the most common way to spend money on a family law matter and get nowhere.
- Disclosure is a legal duty, not a negotiating position
- Since 10 June 2025 the duty of full and frank disclosure sits in the Family Law Act itself, at section 71B, and it applies before a court application is filed. If you are the one who does not know what is there, that duty is the lever. If you are the one holding the information, non-disclosure is the single fastest way to have an agreement set aside later.
- The effect of family violence is now part of the property question
- The law changed on 10 June 2025. The court must now consider, where relevant, how family violence affected a person’s ability to contribute and what their circumstances are going forward. Economic and financial abuse is expressly recognised as family violence. If that is part of your history, it is part of your property matter.
- We tell you the likely range early
- Most property matters resolve within a range rather than at a number. Knowing that range at the start is what lets you decide whether an offer on the table is worth taking, and it is the difference between settling well and settling because you have run out of money.
Typical process
What usually happens, step by step
Every matter differs, but the shape is usually this.
- 01
Advice on where you stand
We go through the relationship, the asset pool, what each of you contributed and what each of you needs now, and set out the realistic range against the framework in the Family Law Act.
- 02
Disclosure, both ways
Bank statements, tax returns, superannuation, valuations, business records. This is the unglamorous part and it is the part that decides matters. It also runs both directions: you will be asked for the same.
- 03
Negotiation, mediation or arbitration
Most settlements are reached between lawyers or at mediation. Arbitration is also available for financial matters if you want a binding decision without a court list. We will tell you which suits your matter.
- 04
Formalising it properly
An agreement is not finished until it is documented. Consent orders filed with the court make it enforceable and unlock the stamp duty and capital gains rollovers that an informal deal does not. A handshake settlement is one bad month away from being reopened.
Questions
Common questions
Is everything split fifty fifty?
Is my superannuation part of the settlement?
How long do I have to sort out a property settlement?
What happens to the house?
My ex is hiding money. What can be done?
Does it matter that the house is only in my name?
What happens to the dog?
Do we have to go to court?
Who acts for you
Ben Vincent
Family lawyer and co-founder
Accredited Specialist in Family Law
Ben@vincentbroussard.com.auFull profile
Related
- Financial agreementsAgreements made before, during or after a relationship, and what makes them hold up.
- Divorce and separationThe formal steps of ending a marriage, and the decisions that need to be made alongside it.
- Child support and spousal maintenanceAssessments, private agreements, and what to do when circumstances change.
Reviewed by Ben Vincent on .
This page is general information about family law in Victoria. It is not legal advice and it does not take your circumstances into account. Speak with a family lawyer before acting on it.