De Facto Facts: Your Rights (and Risks) in Family Law

Think sharing a Netflix account and a mortgage makes you just “roommates with benefits”? Under Australian family law, it probably makes you partners in a de facto relationship—with all the rights and obligations of a married couple. 

In this episode of Mediation Matters, we unpack exactly what de facto status means, how the courts decide whether you’ve crossed the line from dating to domestic partnership, and—most importantly—how mediation can keep you out of a back-logged courtroom and in control of your own future. 

🔍 Inside you’ll learn: 

• The legal checklist the courts use to label a relationship de facto (hint: it’s more than the two-year rule).
• Property & superannuation stakes: why “what’s mine is yours” suddenly applies—and how to divide the asset pool fairly.
• Children & parenting arrangements: identical rules to marriage, but often smoother through mediation.
• Time-bomb deadlines: the two-year window to start a property claim after separation.
• Binding Financial Agreements & Consent Orders: how a mediated deal becomes iron-clad under the Family Law Act.

⚖️ Why listen?
 

The family-law courts are bursting with a 30,000-case backlog. Mediation offers a faster, cheaper, less stressful path—and places the decision-making power back in your hands, not a judge’s.
 
 
Ready for clarity? Book your free initial consultation with Mediations Australia and map out your best next step—before the clock (and your patience) runs out.