Property Settlement for Married Couples

1. Contributions made by or on behalf of the parties or each of them, whether financial or otherwise, towards the purchase, maintenance and improvement of property acquired or owned during the relationship.
2. Contributions made towards the welfare of the family as homemaker and/or parent.
3. The parties' resources such as entitlements to inheritances and the like.
4. Other matters relating to the future financial needs of the parties.

1. Identify and value all available property, liabilities and financial resources.
2. Decide the manner in which the parties should share the available property, liabilities and financial resources. This is done by determining the contributions made by the parties towards the assets, as set out above.
3. Look at the parties' future needs and resources and determine whether it is appropriate to make an adjustment of the available property and/or resources in favour of one party having regard to those factors. Resources include assets to which a party may be entitled to at some established future date. The Family Court takes into account factors such as the parties' earning capacity, whether one party may be living with another person, an entitlement to a deceased person's estate, or benefits received from a family trust or a private company.
4. Determine whether the division of the property, liabilities and financial resources in accordance with steps 2 and 3 results in a fair (just and equitable) property settlement. It is unusual for there to be a further adjustment at this stage.