VIC Estranged from Husband - Can I Marry Again Under Family Law?

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SallyF

Member
15 November 2016
1
0
1
I was married outside of Australia before but my husband have left me and I have no knowledge of his whereabouts for 22 years. I now want to get married to an Australian man in Australia and resettle here. What should I know about in family law?
 
S

Sophea

Guest
Hi SallyF,

In order to be validly remarried in Australia, you need to properly divorce your ex-husband. You can seek a divorce in the country where you were married. Or provided that :
  • you are an Australian citizen or resident or
  • you ordinarily live in Australia and have lived in Australia for at least one year immediately before applying or
  • you regard Australia as your home and you intend to live here permanently,
It's possible to file for divorce in Australia. An ex parte application can be made so that the other party doesn't need to attend or file anything in response as long as you can show the court you made attempts to locate him to serve him with the divorce papers.
 

Matthew Lynch

Lawyer
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
18 July 2016
105
9
414
Sydney
lawtap.com
To support the application Sophea is talking about, you will need to prepare an affidavit setting out the history of what has happened and your attempts to serve your ex-husband. It should be relatively straight forward.