I got married in december 2015 to a sri lankan citizen. He…

Dear customer, your question relates to divorce.

Section 48(1) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) establishes that there is only one ground for divorce in Australia, which is that the marriage has broken down irretrievably. Fault is not a ground for divorce in Australia.

The ground for divorce is established if, and only if, the parties separated and thereafter lived separately and apart for a continuous period of not less than 12 months immediately preceding the filing of the application for the divorce order (s 48(2)).

Where parties have been married for less than two years, they must first have considered a reconciliation with the assistance of a specified person15 or, where the parties have not attended counselling, leave of the court must be obtained before an application for divorce is filed. The two-year period is calculated from the date of the marriage to the date of the divorce application.

Section 44(1B) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) requires the “specified person” to complete and sign a certificate, and that certificate must be attached to the application for divorce. The certificate will confirm to the court that the specified person has discussed with the parties the possibility of a reconciliation. The parties can obtain a blank certificate from the Family Court website to take with them to family counselling.

Where the parties have not attended counselling, the parties will require the leave of the court to apply for a divorce, and the applicant will need to explain to the court in an affidavit why they did not attend counselling (s 44(1C)). The reasons for this might be that the applicant does not know where the respondent is or one of the parties refused to attend. The affidavit should deal with the reasons why the parties did not attend counselling and what attempts were made to see a counsellor (eg a counsellor was identified and an appointment made but not kept). Additionally it would be sensible to alert the court to any special circumstances of the case, for example, where there have been incidences of domestic violence.

The object of this requirement is to ensure that those involved in a short and, therefore, inexperienced marriage should be afforded the opportunity to consider reconciliation with a professional counsellor before taking matters further.

Kind regards *****