What sort of divorce settlement can you expect in Oz?

[lovelypants]

I have name changed for this and my situation is very, very complicated so will try to simplify.

Basically i am looking to divorce my DH - it is looking like I may have a choice of jurisdiction to divorce him in including Australia (although i need to check this), even though we do not currently live there. I am currently trying to get some legal advice for Australia but wondered if anyone had some advice in the meantime?

In a nutshell, I am a SAHM with a young child. When my child is older i would like to go back to work at least part time.

Most of our assets were accumulated during our marriage, and were from DH's salary.

Any advice / experiences much appreciated.

I split up from my ex in Australia and got taken to the cleaners. No kids I paid all bills, mortgage and the deposit on the flat and got a 50/50 split which never materialised because he wouldn't sell the flat and I couldn't make a grown single man of 33 homeless. I left with 2 suitcases.

However that may all work for you, it depends where your property and assets are.

My friend divorced her dh in Australia - they are very male friendly so to speak.
She had very few options and was anot allowed to do anything regarding the children without his say so.

I would be very wary of looking for a divorce here unless you are actively seeking joint custody. All decisions MUST be made (under the Family Law Act) "in the best interests of the child" and joint custody - which may not mean a 50:50 split but will involve "substantial and significant" time with each parent and both parents having equal say in all parenting decisions - is seen as the ideal unless the are strong reasons to the contrary.

No Court likes "jurisdiction shopping" so I would be really worried about ending up with an order that goes very much against you but which you will then have to abide by.

thanks all for the advice. Very interesting reading. Am currently trying to get legal advice but good to get all your thoughts.

Depressingly in the country we are currenlty livnig in, I've been told by a local lawyer that Australia would probably provide me with a better settlement than my current country of residence. the UK is definitely looking like the best option but not sure if i can file for divorce in the UK - will need to explore this.

Mosman - so sorry to hear about your situation - you must be rightly gutted. I seem to be hearing quite a few horror stories at the moment about the Aussie courts and how women often come off v badly.

If there is any way on Gods green earth you can go through the British courts I would.
My ex spent $60,000 fighting so that he wouldn't have to pay $30,000 in school fees and still the Australian system is on his side, I mean what sort of father does that and still come up smelling of roses, it's a joke.

This was a different ex by the way, I am so done with Aussie men lol

agree that its a joke. Very depressing reading about Australian courts. My heart goes out to you :( what an arse

sorry to hear that you are done with Aussie men. I have to say that i have various Aussie girlfriends and they all say that they are way worse than British ones!

I have a strong bargaining point in my favour so will try and use that to get a decentish settlement. Pretty much all the marital assets are from DH but I gave up an excellent career and savings to follow him around the world (more fool me) and i obviously have a child to support too. So just want to make sure that i am not left destitute while he lives in luxury!

We are going back over to Australia on a 457, my British DH wants to get permanent residency but I have to say I am keen to come back after a few years for the kids to finish their education and for them to meet British husbands if I am honest, I don't care what colour, shape or size their OH's are but i'd rather they weren't 25 years behind most other blokes on the planet (stereotyping I know but we are all shaped by our experiences aren't we).

Where you are living (domiciled) will determine where you can issue your divorce proceedings. If you are not living in Australia why do you think you can issue there?

Really Mosman? With that attitude towards Australian men maybe you shouldn't be moving there? It's not really fair to judge every Australian male because you are crap at chosing a partner.

If you dislike about 50% population why would you bother moving somewhere?!

Oh I know, so you can come on MN in 6 months time and tell everyone how shit its going for you...

Choosing

We are going out for the jobs, nothing else.
Luckily for me I have been married now for 10 years so I appear to have got better at picking partners these days.

out of order GoldClass