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02 November 2018

Proving a marriage - to get divorced!

Family Law
Federal

Asked

Family law - divorce - overseas marriage certificate​

Dear Mentor,

I am acting for a couple who wish to file a joint divorce application.

The parties were married around 20 years ago overseas and migrated together to Australia and they are both Australian citizens.

No property settlement is necessary and no children issues as their only son is over 18 years old.

The problem is that they do not have a marriage certificate obtained in Korea and they will not be able to obtain one from Korea.

In this case, do the parties need to provide a marriage certificate when filing a divorce?

Are there any documents that the court needs to receive to process the joint divorce application?

Thank you.

Answered

Thank you for the question.

The following is an extract from the By Lawyers 101 Family Law Answers reference manual:

Unable to obtain an overseas marriage certificate

Every effort should be made to attempt to obtain a copy of a marriage certificate. The most straightforward way may be to contact the relevant Embassy/High Commission of the relevant country in Australia.

If every effort has been made and a marriage certificate cannot be obtained, see Federal Circuit Court Rule 25.01 which provides:

(3) If the applicant is unable to file the marriage certificate, the applicant must:

(a) file an affidavit setting out the reasons; or

(b) give a Registrar an undertaking, satisfactory to the Registrar, to file the marriage certificate within a specified time.

The affidavit will need to set out every attempt made to obtain the certificate, including attaching evidence confirming these attempts were made, as well as the details of the marriage/wedding as are available. The affidavit is to be filed with the divorce application.

The application needs to be completed online at the Federal Circuit Court website. For a joint application, both applicants must sign the application at Part G. There is no need to serve documents on the other party when making a joint application.

Regards

Mentor