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Spousal and de facto maintenance agreements

Information about the different types of agreements you can make for spousal or de facto maintenance.

Informal agreement

An informal agreement can be spoken or written.

There are no rules for making an informal agreement. You and your ex-partner can agree on:

  • any amount of maintenance
  • how maintenance will be paid, including
    • regular payments
    • lump sum payments
    • payments of living expenses, or
    • the use of an asset, such as a car
  • how long maintenance will be paid.

If you make an informal agreement, you should put it in writing. This will help avoid misunderstandings and disputes about the terms of your agreement.

You and your ex-partner can change an informal agreement at any time if you both agree. There are no rules about how often you can change it.

An informal agreement isn’t legally enforceable. This means that if the person who agrees to pay maintenance stops paying, you cannot use the agreement to force them to pay or recover missed payments.

Case study

John and Patricia have separated after 25 years of marriage. They own two properties together, the family home and an investment property. They own both properties outright - there are no mortgages on these properties. Both properties are worth approximately $1.2 million. John also has $850,000 in superannuation. Patricia doesn’t have any superannuation. After they got married, John went to work while Patricia managed the home and cared for their four children. John is still employed and earns $150,000 per year. Patricia is not employed.

After their separation, Patricia moved into their investment property and John stayed in the family home. John has been transferring $1,000 per fortnight to Patricia to cover the costs of her living expenses.

The parties are negotiating consent orders to divide up their property. John will continue to financially support Patricia until their property settlement is finalised. The parties understand that this agreement isn’t legally enforceable. 

Binding financial agreement

You and your ex-partner can make a binding financial agreement about spousal or de facto maintenance.

For a binding financial agreement to be valid, it must:

  • be in writing
  • be signed by both of you
  • be made after you have each received independent legal advice, and
  • include a certificate from each lawyers confirming that you were given legal advice about the agreement.

A binding financial agreement is legally enforceable. If someone doesn’t follow the agreement, the other person can apply to the court to enforce the agreement.

If you have a valid binding financial agreement, you generally can’t apply for to the court for maintenance orders.

The court can only make a maintenance order in limited situations, including if:

  • the agreement is set aside
  • part of the agreement is found to be void
  • when the agreement was made, one person couldn’t support themselves without a government income-tested benefit.

Consent orders

You and your ex-partner can ask the court to make your maintenance agreement into court orders. This is called applying for consent orders.

Consent orders are legally enforceable. They have the same effect as orders made by a Judge after a hearing.

You and your ex-partner must follow your consent orders while they are in force. If someone doesn’t follow the orders, the other person can apply to the court to enforce the orders.

You can apply for consent orders in:

  • the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, or
  • the Local Court of NSW.

Before you apply for consent orders, you should get legal advice. 

For more information, see Finances and property: Spousal maintenance on the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia website.

Centrelink

The type of maintenance agreement you make may affect your Centrelink payments.

If you receive maintenance

If you receive maintenance, Services Australia won’t count it as income w assessing your eligibility for income support payments, such as Jobseeker or parenting payment.

However, maintenance will be counted as income when Services Australia assesses your eligibility for family payments, such as Family Tax Benefit.

If you pay maintenance

If you pay maintenance under a binding financial agreement or consent orders, the maintenance payment won’t be counted as part of your income when Services Australia assesses your eligibility for income support payments.

If your pay maintenance under an informal agreement, the payments will be counted as part of your income.

Tell Services Australia about changes

If you already receive a Centrelink payment when you start receiving maintenance, you may need to tell Services Australia about your change of circumstances.

For more information, see Income support payment and Family Tax Benefit on the Services Australia website.

Last updated: August 2026

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