There are a number of practical and legal matters to think about when separating, including:
See further: Federal Circuit and Family Court Website
amica is an online service developed by National Legal Aid that helps separating couples reach agreement between themselves about parenting and property issues. amica's artificial intelligence was built to take into account all of the things that need to be considered when working out what is fair for both parties. It can record what has been agreed about parenting or property and turn it into an agreement that can be downloaded.
In property matters, the program uses artificial intelligence to calculate how the parties could fairly divide their property. amica can prepare a non-binding written agreement. It can also prepare an Application for Consent Orders ready for filing with the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia where parties want the added security of formal orders. In parenting matters, amica assists parents to reach a suitable agreement or parenting plan that is in their child’s best interests.
amica was designed by family lawyers to make sure it is accurate, clear and fair. It can be used for married and de facto couples, and for both property and parenting arrangements following separation.
Costs may apply when amica prepares a written parenting or property agreement, or an Application for Consent Orders. Visit the amica pricing page for more information about costs.
amica can be used by couples in any Australian state or territory. It has been optimised to work on desktop, tablet and mobile devices. amica one a single-sided version of amica, allows you to enter your financials and an estimate of your former partner's financials, to determine a suggested division of money and property. Once you see what a suggested division of money and property might look like in amica one you can invite your former partner to use amica.
amica may not be suitable in some situations, such as:
From the beginning of September 2023, it is possible to split superannuation through amica Superannuation is considered an asset for division of money and property after separation. It is treated differently because it is an asset that is held on trust. When there is a difference in superannuation balances, there is now the option to divide superannuation interests. One accumulation type fund that has a withdrawal benefit of more than $5,000 may now be split. Dividing superannuation involves transferring a portion of your superannuation from one party to another. This is not a cash payment but a transfer of superannuation from one fund to the other, so it has different rules and a different legal process. With this new feature, users can now agree to use a portion of their superannuation to contribute to their overall settlement, in that they can agree to offset some of the cash settlement sum as superannuation. Users can navigate the process of superannuation splitting simply and efficiently to then enable to generate an Application for Consent Orders which they can file in Court.
For more information, or to access the service, visit amica