Ending a Marriage Costs Ten Times the Divorce

The divorce is the cheap part

Ending a marriage in Australia involves two separate legal jobs. The divorce is a court order declaring the marriage over. From 1 July 2026 the Federal Circuit and Family Court charges $1,170 to apply for one, or $390 at the reduced rate for concession card holders and people in financial hardship. Dividing the house, the super and the savings, and deciding where the children live, is a different job. The court charges $215 to lodge consent orders that make an agreement on those questions binding, so the divorce fee is about 5.4 times the fee for the settlement.

The money runs the other way. On Going Rate's typical figures, the all-in cost of a divorce ($30,600) is about ten times the divorce paperwork with simple legal help ($3,050). About nine-tenths of what a typical separating couple spends goes on property and parenting, the work the court charges least to formalise.

The divorce application itself is mostly forms and waiting. The couple must have been separated for 12 months and 1 day, and the divorce becomes final one month and one day after the court grants it. Couples married for less than two years generally also need a counselling certificate. None of those steps divides property or sets out arrangements for the children.

Court fees barely register

The $1,170 divorce fee is under 4% of a typical all-in divorce ($30,600). The $215 consent orders fee is about 5% of consent orders drafted by a lawyer ($4,500). When a couple agree, almost everything they pay goes to advisers.

A contested case adds court fees, though they stay small against the whole. One application seeking final orders on both parenting and property costs $740. If the matter is listed for a final hearing in Division 2, the setting-down fee is $820, and every hearing day after the first costs another $820. The divorce fee, the application and the setting-down fee together still come to less than a tenth of Going Rate's typical all-in bill.

Time with lawyers drives the cost of a contested case. The median time from filing to trial was 14 months in 2024-25, the court's annual report shows. A matter that reaches final hearing can cost in excess of $30,000, QUT's Dr Danielle Bozin told the ABC in 2024. Each month of waiting can bring more letters, affidavits and financial disclosure for a lawyer to prepare and read.

Where the money goes

On Going Rate's figures, more than half goes to lawyers. In 76% of matters the court finalised in 2024-25, both parties had a lawyer at some point, a court spokesperson told the ABC. Going Rate puts a typical family lawyer bill ($16,500) at a little over half the all-in figure. The rest goes on drafting consent orders ($4,500), private mediation ($7,750), and conveyancing ($1,750) if the house is sold or transferred into one name. Many people also need a new will ($1,150) and a new power of attorney ($480), because the ones they signed as a couple often name the person they have just separated from.

The legal bill arrives just as household income falls, and it falls unevenly. A 2022 University of Melbourne study of HILDA survey data found that a break-up cut women's disposable household income by almost 30% on average, against about 5% for men. The same study found women's risk of poverty rose from 9% to 22% in the first year after separation.

Some people stop paying for lawyers altogether. In 2025 the ABC reported on victim-survivors of family violence who were representing themselves in the family court because of legal fees.

Most couples settle, and settling sets the price

More couples formalise an agreement than ask the court to decide. In 2024-25 the court received 16,730 applications for consent orders and 14,243 applications for final orders in Division 2, its annual report shows. Many contested cases settle too. The court's financial conciliation conferences resolved 65.6% of matters on a final basis, and 56.8% of all its court-based dispute resolution events did the same.

Cheaper help exists before anyone files. Family Relationship Centres provide the first hour of family dispute resolution free. Hours two and three cost $30 an hour for people earning $50,000 or more, and stay free for those earning less. At the private end, the typical all-in bill ($30,600) is about four times private mediation ($7,750).

A couple who agree on everything and formalise it pay far less than the all-in figure. On Going Rate's figures, the divorce paperwork with simple legal help ($3,050) plus consent orders drafted by a lawyer ($4,500) comes to about a quarter of it. Where a couple cannot agree and their net property, excluding super, is under $550,000, the court can run the case through its Priority Property Pool process. The court allocated 2,338 matters to it from 30 October 2023 to 30 June 2025, and the finalised matters took an average of 5.9 months from filing, its annual report shows.

When there has been violence

The figures above describe separations where both people can negotiate safely. Many cannot. In 2024-25, 86% of parenting matters before the Federal Circuit and Family Court included an allegation that a party had experienced family violence, the court's annual report shows. Mediation and direct negotiation are not safe for everyone, and a lower bill is no reason to sit across a table from someone you fear.

The law changed on 10 June 2025. Courts must now consider the economic effect of family violence, where relevant, when they divide property, and the Family Law Act now makes clear that economic or financial abuse can be family violence, the Attorney-General's Department says. That might include a partner who controlled all the finances or spending. The duty to fully disclose money and assets is now written into the Act itself.

Anyone affected can call 1800RESPECT, the national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling service, on 1800 737 732 at any hour. In an emergency, call 000.

Leaving costs more than joining

The legal side of getting married costs little. A weekday legal-only wedding at the NSW registry starts at $482, including the fee to lodge the Notice of Intended Marriage, and Victoria's registry charges $400 for a legal-only ceremony from Monday to Thursday. The divorce fee alone is about 2.4 times the NSW wedding and about 2.9 times the Victorian one.

Against Going Rate's prices the gap is wider. The divorce paperwork with simple legal help ($3,050) costs about three times a wedding celebrant ($980), and the all-in cost of a divorce ($30,600) is about 31 times the celebrant.

Some couples pay at the start to limit the bill at the end. A prenup ($3,400) costs a little more than the divorce paperwork, and the all-in divorce figure is about nine times a prenup and about 4.5 times a binding financial agreement ($6,750). An agreement made while the relationship is working might reduce the cost of a later split, because it settles in advance some of the property questions that generate legal fees.

The clock that starts when the divorce is final

About 49,000 divorces were granted in 2025, the ABS reports. The median marriage had lasted 9.4 years when the couple separated, and the median marriage that ended in divorce had lasted 13.4 years when the divorce was granted. The median age at divorce was 47.3 for men and 44.4 for women.

The order of the two jobs matters because of a property deadline. Once a divorce becomes final, each person has 12 months to apply to the court for property orders, the court says. De facto couples have two years from separation. Getting divorced before the property is settled starts that 12-month clock on the larger, more expensive job.

Once a case is underway, the median time from filing to finalisation was 9.2 months in 2024-25, and the court finished 61% of applications for final orders within 12 months.

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