VIC One Sided Divorce in Australia

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karinf

Member
27 August 2014
2
0
1
HI,
This is my story(the short version):

I have lived in Australia for almost 6 year (permanent residency), during those 6 years, I was in a relationship with an Australian person, which In 3 of them I was married to him, after 6 years of being together we broke up and I moved back to Israel. It’s been 7 years since we’ve been apart and since I moved back to Israel.

It is important to say that he is a troubled man. I have been trying to get in contact with him on and off for several years. He won’t give me a divorce and I don’t know the reason. He won’t talk to me on the phone or by e-mail, I tried contacting his family & friends and no one would help me. He keeps changing phone numbers, so there's no way for me to get in contact with him.

I talked to a few lawyers in Israel and read about it on the Internet. Someone told me that after so many years of being apart, I don’t even need his consent, that I just need to fill in some forms.

I am asking for your help in guidance. What do I need to do in order to get this divorce, so I could put this behind me and move on with my life. Also since I live in Israel, there is not much I can do.

Thank you very much for your help and I would be very happy to hear back from you.

Thanks in advance.
 

AllForHer

Well-Known Member
23 July 2014
3,664
684
2,894
Hi, karinf,

As I understand it, to apply for a divorce in Australia when you live overseas, the following conditions must be met:
  1. You or your former spouse is an Australian citizen;
  2. You or your former spouse is domiciled in Australia; and
  3. You or your former spouse has been an ordinary resident in Australia and had been a resident for one year immediately before filing the divorce application.

If your former spouse is an Australia citizen who lives in Australia and has done so for at least 12 months, then you can divorce your former spouse by Australian laws. This means you can file for a divorce as a sole applicant, which means you don't need your former spouse's consent.

You will encounter complications when trying to serve the divorce application on your former spouse since you do not know where he is and have been unable to contact him, but there are provisions which allow for this and still enable a divorce order to go into effect.

For more information about filing for divorce in Australia, check familylawcourts.gov.au. I hope this has helped.
 

karinf

Member
27 August 2014
2
0
1
Hi,
thanks you for replying, that was very nice of you.
I have read everything you have sent me but i still dont understand the whole process.
must I serve my spouse with all the documents or can I do this without getting him involve since he wont talk to me or sign anything.

I read here http://www.familylawcourts.gov.au/w.../Separation+and+Divorce/Service+of+documents/ That there are only 2 options, send him by mail or send someone to serve him. in both ways I'm pretty sure he will not sign anything.

I would appreciate any help of any kind, I just want this to be over so I could get on with my life.

Thank you all.

Karinf
 

AllForHer

Well-Known Member
23 July 2014
3,664
684
2,894
Hi again,

Your former spouse does not need to sign anything in order for you to obtain a divorce. The only form they would ordinarily sign is an acknowledgement of service, but they don't have to sign that as the person serving the documents can sign an affidavit that says they served the documents on your former spouse.

You have indicated that you don't know where your former spouse is, which means you can apply to the court to dispense with service of the application.

You will probably need some legal advice on how to do this, though. I don't know the process for this part, I'm sorry. Perhaps one of the other local experts can provide guidance?