​ሕግንና ደንብን በተመለከተ እርዳታ ማግኘት ይፈልጋሉን? - Amharic | هل تحتاج لمساعدة قانونية؟ - Arabic | ܤܢܝܼܩܵܐ ܝ݇ܘ̤ܬ ܠܗܲܝܵܪܬܵܐ ܩܵܢܘܿܢܵܝܬܵܐ؟ - Assyrian | Need Legal Help? - Auslan | Treba li vam pravna pomoc? - Bosnian | Burmese â Need Legal Help? | 需要法律帮助吗? - Chinese Simplified | 需要法律幫助嗎? - Chinese Traditional | Trebate li pravnu pomoć? - Croatian | ضرورت به کمک قانونی دارید؟ - Dari | Wïc Kuɔɔny në Wɛ̈t Löŋ? - Dinka | آیا به کمک حقوقی نیاز دارید؟ - Farsi | Gadreva na Veivuke Vakalawa? - Fijian | Kailangan ninyo ba ng tulong na panglegal? - Filipino | Besoin d’aide juridique ? - French | Χρειάζεστε βοήθεια σε νομικά ζητήματα - Greek | क्या आपको कानूनी सलाह चाहिए? - Hindi | Butuhkan Bantuan dalam Masalah Hukum? - Indonesian | Hai bisogno di assistenza legale? - Italian | ត្រូវការជំនួយលើបញ្ហាផ្លូវច្បាប់ឬទេ? - Khmer | 법적인 도움이 필요하십니까? - Korean | Ви треба ли помош со правни работи? - Macedonian | कानूनी सहयोग चाहिएको छ? - Nepalese | Necessita de ajuda com questões jurídicas? - Portuguese | Вам нужна юридическая помощь? - Russian | E Manaomia Fesoasoani i Mea Tau Tulafono? - Samoan | а ли вам треба помоћ у правним питањима? - Serbian | Ma u baahan tahay Caawimmad xagga sharciga ah?- Somali | ¿Necesita ayuda con cuestiones jurídicas? - Spanish | சட்ட உதவி தேவையா? - Tamil | ท่านต้องการความช่วยเหลือทางด้านกฎหมายไหม? - Thai | Fiema’u ha tokoni Fakalao? - Tongan | Yasal Danışmaya İhtiyacınız mı var? - Turkish | Cần Được Giúp Đỡ Về Luật Pháp? - Vietnamese |

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After court

If a Divorce Order is made, your divorce will be finalised one month and one day after the hearing, unless there are special circumstances.

If the court has granted a Divorce Order, you can:

  • do nothing
  • appeal the decision.

If a Divorce Order has been granted, there may be consequences you should be aware of, for example in relation to your will.   

This section covers:


    Checklist iconChecklist: What to do when you separate

    Getting back together

    If you and your spouse reconcile, you can ask the court to rescind (cancel) the Divorce Order. You must do this within 28 days of the order being made at court and before the order comes into effect. 

    To do this, you must file:

    • an Application for Review, and
    • an Affidavit, setting out the reasons why the Divorce Order should be rescinded.

    You can do this in person or by email.

    The Divorce Order will be stayed (stopped) from coming into effect until your request is heard by the court.

    Appealing a Divorce Order

    You can appeal a Divorce Order if there has been a miscarriage of justice because of fraud, perjury, suppression of evidence or any other circumstance.

    If you want to appeal a Divorce Order, you must do this within 28 days of the Order being made at court and before the order comes into effect.

    Once the Divorce Order has taken effect, you can’t file an appeal.

    Appealing a Divorce Order will stay (stop) the order from taking effect until the court hears your appeal.

    For more information, see Appealing a Divorce Order.

    Alert iconIf you want to appeal a Divorce Order, you should get legal advice.

    If your spouse dies before the Divorce Order takes effect

    If your spouse dies after the hearing but before the Divorce Order comes into effect, you must inform the court.

    You can do this by filing:

    • a copy of your spouse’s death certificate, and
    • an affidavit providing the details of your spouse’s death.

    Updating your will

    Unless your will states otherwise, a Divorce Order will revoke (cancel) any provisions that exist at the date the Divorce Order is made, that:

    • make a gift to your spouse, or
    • appoint your spouse as executor, trustee or guardian. 

    Alert iconIf you have not already done so, you may want to update your will. If you are thinking about updating your will you should get legal advice.  

    Updating your superannuation beneficiaries

    If you have applied for or been granted a Divorce Order, you may want to update your nominated superannuation beneficiaries.

    If you don’t update your beneficiaries and you pass away, your benefit may be paid to your spouse. 

    For more information, contact your superannuation fund manager or get legal advice. 

    Updating your life insurance beneficiaries

    If you have applied for or been granted a Divorce Order, you may want to update your nominated life insurance beneficiaries.

    If you don’t update your beneficiaries and you pass away, your benefit may be paid to your spouse. 

    For more information, contact your life insurance provider or get legal advice. 

    Change of name

    A Divorce Order will not change your name. It is up to you if want to change your name after you have been granted a Divorce Order.

    If you changed your surname with the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages from your maiden name (or other name you used before marriage) to your married name, you will need to file another Change of Name application to change it back. You will need to pay a fee to change your name. 

    You can apply to change your name online and the certificate will be posted to you. 

    For more information or to change your name, see Register a change of name (adult) on the Service NSW website.

    If you used your marriage certificate to change your name with some organisations, for example, Transport for NSW, Medicare, you may be able to revert to your maiden name using your birth certificate or the Divorce Order. 

    For more information, contact the relevant organisations about what documents you need. 

    Remarrying

    It is illegal for you to get remarried before your Divorce Order is finalised. You should not make plans to get remarried until your Divorce Order is finalised.  

    The Divorce Order takes effect one month and one day after it is made.

    Alert iconYou must give a copy of your Divorce Order to the marriage celebrant before you can get remarried. 

    Recognition of overseas divorces

    If you get a divorce in another country, it will be recognised in Australia as long as it was done in accordance with the laws of that country.

    You will only need to apply for a divorce in Australia if you did not follow the laws of that country. 

    If you are unsure if the overseas divorce is recognised in Australia, you should get legal advice. For example, if you were only married religiously, then your relationship would be classed as de facto relationship and a divorce would not be needed.

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