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Transferring ownership of the house after separation

There are a number of ways to transfer property after separation under the Family Law Act; the most common being by way of Consent Orders.

The benefits of consent orders are:

  1. They are sealed by the court and rarely amended. This will offer finality to the financial aspect of the relationship.
  2. Transferring pursuant to an order of the Family Court will avoid stamp duty. 
  3. Depending on the amount of stamp duty payable, sometimes it is more cost effective to complete a property settlement rather than pay stamp duty, particularly if the separation is amicable.


Alternatively, you can transfer the property without Consent Orders however, you will have to pay stamp duty on the market value of the share of the property that you are receiving. If you proceed with the transfer without the Consent Orders, you will need an appraisal from a real estate agent so that stamp duty can be calculated. 

By transferring the property in this way, there is a risk that your ex-partner could file for a property settlement after the fact and the property that you just transferred will form part of the property pool of that property settlement.

Please note that there are timelines under the Family Law Act whereby your ex-partner could bring a property settlement after the transfer of the property to you. For further information in this regard or if you have any concerns, you should contact a family law lawyer.

While Marino Lawyers does not practice in Family Law, it is common for our practice to transfer properties once Consent Orders have been issued, or without any Consent Orders at all.

For further information, please contact one of our experienced lawyers on 07 4081 6700 to discuss how we can assist with property transfer.

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