The Family Law Amendment Act came into effect in 2009, whereby all the states and territories referred their powers to deal with property and maintenance issues for de facto couples to the Commonwealth.

How does this effect you?

Virtually all the rules are exactly the same – you can still make an agreement either:

• before you enter the relationship;
• during the relationship; or
• after the relationship has ended.

We provide agreement kits for Gay Male and Lesbian Couples. The agreement covers the same issues but is formatted for your ease with either he/he or she/she pronouns and references.

Which stage are you at?

Gay Male

Before Moving In

After Moving In

Separating

If you’re not sure whether you’re in a de facto relationship, the legislation defines it like this:

A person is in a de facto relationship with another person if:-

• the persons are not legally married to each other; and
• the persons are not related by family;
• having regard to all the circumstances of their relationship, they have a relationship as a couple living together on a genuine domestic basis.

For the purposes of this Act:

• a de facto relationship can exist between 2 persons of different sexes and between 2 persons of the same gender; and
• a de facto relationship can exist even if one of the persons is legally married to someone else or in another de facto relationship.

For a full definition go to Section 4AA of the Family Law Act.