VIC Cohabiting exes, centrelink, future separation of property.

[daven]

Im sharing a house with my ex. We have lived together for 25 years. The romance has petered out rather than broken. We have separate bedrooms but some shared expenses, like flatmates. We now want to separate finances. She has a recent trust-protected inheritance, moved me into the house she was able to buy, then had doubts. I am not being kicked out of her house - yet .

So, while we remain under the same roof I want to claim centrelink benefits when not employed, and in a couple of years the pension. She, for various reasons, is not cooperating with the partner paperwork so it's time to tell centrelink and the ATO we are separate.

If we tell centrelink and ATO we are no longer a couple, my question is if we later want to live apart and separate property, when does the statutory period (2 years I think) for legal settlement start? From when we told ATO/centrelink or when we actually start to live apart? Or something else?

It hopefully wont come to that but an agreement would be guided by whats legally enforceable. I dont see a practical need to separate property until we are living apart.

 

[Noel Harris]

For de facto couples, the two-year time limit runs from the actual date of separation, which is a factual question, not an administrative one. Separation can absolutely occur while two people remain living in the same house (this is often called 'separated under one roof'), so you don't need to physically move out for the clock to start.

What the court looks at is the substance of the relationship, including whether you present as a couple, share finances, sleep separately, socialise together, and so on, rather than what you've told Centrelink or the ATO. Notifying those agencies is useful supporting evidence of the date you say separation occurred, but it isn't itself the trigger, and equally, delaying that notification doesn't stop time running if separation has genuinely already happened in fact.

Given the length of the relationship and the inheritance-funded property, it would be worth getting advice now, ideally a signed separation declaration or similar record, so the separation date is clearly established before any dispute arises about your eventual property settlement, particularly given the property may have started as a protected inheritance but could still be part of the shared pool depending on how it's been used.

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Disclaimer: Please note information in this response is general in nature and should not be treated as legal advice. It may not be complete or up to date for your specific situation. Independent legal advice is always recommended.