DE FACTO SEPARATION – DID YOU KNOW?
De Facto Separation – Did You Know? Did you know that after separation in a de facto separation relationship that a separating party must bring an application in relation to financial issues arising from the breakdown in the relationship within a period of 2 years from the date of separation? For instance, if de facto couples separate say on the 1 st January in any one year the application must be filed on or before the 1 st January in the following 2 year period. One might conclude that if the de facto separation between parties happens on 1 st January that an application to the Court must be before 1 st January in the following 2 year period. However, the application must be brought “within” a period of 2 years. That means that the period of de facto separation commences not on the 1 st of January but on the 2 nd January and an application filed on the 1 st January within a 2 year period is filed within the pres...