After court

If you and your spouse reconcile, you can ask the court to rescind (cancel) the Divorce Order. You must do this within 28 days of the order being made at court and before the order comes into effect. 

To do this, you must file:

• an Application for Review, and
  
• an Affidavit, setting out the reasons why the Divorce Order should be rescinded.
  

You can do this in person or by email.

The Divorce Order will be stayed (stopped) from coming into effect until your request is heard by the Court.

You can appeal a Divorce Order if there has been a miscarriage of justice because of fraud, perjury, suppression of evidence or any other circumstance.

If you want to appeal a Divorce Order, you must do this within 28 days of the Order being made at court and before the order comes into effect.

Once the Divorce Order has taken effect, you can’t file an appeal.

Appealing a Divorce Order will stay (stop) the order from taking effect until the court hears your appeal. 

If you want to appeal a Divorce Order, you should get legal advice.

You can appeal a Divorce Order if there has been a miscarriage of justice because of:

• fraud
  
• perjury
  
• suppression of evidence, or
  
• any other circumstance.
  

You can’t appeal simply because you didn’t want the court to make a Divorce Order. 

You must complete:

• an Application for Review, and
  
• an Affidavit, setting out the reasons for your appeal.
  

You can get a copy of the form from:

• your nearest court registry
  
• the Family law forms page on the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia website.
  

You must file your completed form with the National Appeals Registry by email or post. You can’t file your form on the Commonwealth Courts Portal.

You will have to pay a fee. If you have a government concession card or are experiencing financial hardship, you may be eligible for a fee reduction.

For more information, see Family law court fees on the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia website.

You will also have to buy a copy of the transcript of your divorce hearing. Transcripts are provided by an independent service provider, and you can’t ask for a fee reduction.

Once your form is processed by the registry, you will be given a date for the hearing.

If you don’t attend the hearing, the Court may dismiss your appeal.

You must serve a sealed copy of your Application for Review on your spouse within seven days of filing.

You can do this by:

• delivering it to their home address
  
• sending it by registered post
  
• email - if they have provided an email at the address for service
  
• arranging for another person over 18 years old to serve them, such as a friend, family member, sheriff officer, or professional process server
  
• sending it to your spouse’s lawyer – if their lawyer has agreed to accept service.
  

Affidavit of Service

To prove you have served your spouse, you must file an Affidavit of Service.

The Affidavit must be completed by the person who served your spouse, and it must be witnessed by an authorised person (Justice of the Peace or lawyer).

You can file your Affidavit of service:

• online, via the Commonwealth Courts Portal
  
• in person
  
• by post.
  

You should send your completed form to the Courts postal address, not the street address.

For more information, see How do I serve family law documents? on the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia website.

After hearing your appeal, the Court may:

• dismiss your appeal
• rescind the Divorce Order and, if it thinks fit, order that the Application for Divorce be re-heard.

The Court may make a costs order against you if:

• your appeal is dismissed
  
• you file a Notice of Discontinuance
  
• you abandon your appeal.

If your spouse dies after the hearing but before the Divorce Order comes into effect, you must inform the Court.

You can do this by filing:

• a copy of your spouse’s death certificate, and
  
• an affidavit providing the details of your spouse’s death.
  

Unless your will states otherwise, a Divorce Order will revoke (cancel) any provisions that exist at the date the Divorce Order is made, that:

• make a gift to your spouse, or
  
• appoint your spouse as executor, trustee or guardian. 
  

If you have not already done so, you may want to update your will.

If you need to update your will, you should get legal advice.  

If you have applied for or been granted a Divorce Order, you may want to update your nominated superannuation beneficiaries.

If you don’t update your beneficiaries and you pass away, your benefit may be paid to your spouse. 

For more information, contact your superannuation fund manager or get legal advice. 

If you have applied for or been granted a Divorce Order, you may want to update your nominated life insurance beneficiaries.

If you don’t update your beneficiaries and you pass away, your benefit may be paid to your spouse. 

For more information, contact your life insurance provider or get legal advice. 

A Divorce Order will not change your name. It is up to you if want to change your name after you have been granted a Divorce Order.

If you changed your surname with the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages from your maiden name (or other name you used before marriage) to your married name, you will need to file another Change of Name application to change it back. You will need to pay a fee to change your name. 

You can apply to change your name online and the certificate will be posted to you. 

For more information or to change your name, see Register a change of name (adult) on the Service NSW website. 

If you used your marriage certificate to change your name with some organisations, for example, Transport for NSW, Medicare, you may be able to revert to your maiden name using your birth certificate or the Divorce Order. 

For more information, contact the relevant organisations about what documents you need. 

It is illegal for you to get remarried before your Divorce Order is finalised. You should not make plans to get remarried until your Divorce Order is finalised.  

The Divorce Order takes effect one month and one day after it is made.

You must give a copy of your Divorce Order to the marriage celebrant before you can get remarried. 

If you get a divorce in another country, it will be recognised in Australia as long as it was done in accordance with the laws of that country.

You will only need to apply for a divorce in Australia if you did not follow the laws of that country. 

If you are unsure if the overseas divorce is recognised in Australia, you should get legal advice. For example, if you were only married religiously, then your relationship would be classed as de facto relationship and a divorce would not be needed.