Separation and Divorce
Financial Advice for Separation and Divorce
When a relationship ends, your super, any property, insurance, everyday costs and the plan from here all affect one another. We help you plan the financial side at your own pace, alongside any family lawyer.
Our Financial Advice Team Is Here to Help You
Who We Help
- People who have just separated and want to know what to sort first
- Anyone separated under one roof working out the money while still sharing a home
- De facto partners separating without a divorce to follow
- People taking over the finances and wanting a clear picture of what there is
- Separated parents with children living across two homes and costs to plan in each
- Anyone separating later in life with retirement closer and one balance to plan on
- Partners weighing a settlement offer and what each mix of assets means for them
- People with a settlement finalised and ready to build a plan of their own
- Business owners and SMSF members with a company, trust or fund to work through
We Can Help You
- Understand your super and what a proposed superannuation split involves
- Model a proposed settlement against your cashflow and retirement plan
- Build a budget and a buffer around the income you rely on now
- Review life cover, total and permanent disability (TPD), trauma and income protection for your new situation
- Check policy ownership and beneficiary nominations on your super and insurance
- Coordinate updates to your will and powers of attorney with your solicitor
- Plan super contributions around your total super balance after a split
- Weigh up where a settlement amount is held or invested
- Look at whether keeping the home fits your plan, with a mortgage broker
- Coordinate financial advice with any family lawyer or accountant you use
What to sort first
Sorting the Financial Side, One Decision at a Time
First Steps After Separating
With so much changing at once, where do you start with your finances?
Listing what you own and owe can show what needs attention first, so the rest can follow in good order.
We’ll start with what you own and owe, and help you decide what needs attention first.
Where possible, agreeing short-term arrangements helps: where each of you will live, how bills and repayments are paid, and what happens to any joint accounts. Financial counsellors offer a free and confidential service through the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007. In an emergency call 000, and if you don’t feel safe, or money is being used to control you, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or Legal Aid for free legal information.
The first things we work through with you:
- A list of every account, loan, policy and super fund held in either name or jointly
- Access to money for day-to-day living while longer-term arrangements are still being agreed
- Joint bank accounts and credit cards, and any changes to agree with your former partner
- Bills, rent or loan repayments that fall due while each of you sets up separately
- Super statements, payslips and loan balances gathered for a first meeting with a family lawyer
- Any change to Centrelink payments or child support, with assessments handled by Services Australia
- Your own bank account for income and essential payments, if one isn’t in place yet
- A sensible order for the decisions ahead, starting with whatever is most pressing for you
Who Does What
Which decisions sit with which professional, and how do they fit together?
Setting out who handles each decision can help each step move forward, with everyone working from the same figures.
We’ll set out which decisions sit with your family lawyer, Services Australia, your accountant, a broker and us.
Your family lawyer advises on the property settlement, any binding financial agreement or consent orders, and the time limits that apply. Services Australia assesses payments and child support applications, your accountant advises on tax, and a mortgage broker can help with any new loan. We provide financial advice within our authorisations and coordinate with each of them.
How the work divides, and what we look after:
- The property settlement, which your family lawyer negotiates, documents and finalises with you
- Binding financial agreements and consent orders, drafted and advised on by your family lawyer
- Time limits for property claims, which your family lawyer confirms for your circumstances and state
- Child support assessments and family payments, which Services Australia handles and can explain for your household
- Capital gains tax and other tax questions on any asset transfer, answered by your accountant
- A new or refinanced home loan, arranged through a mortgage broker and approved by the lender
- Wills and powers of attorney, updated by your solicitor once you’ve decided what you want
- Your financial plan, where we bring cashflow, super, insurance and investments together with you
Super in a Separation
How might a split of super affect the retirement you’re working towards?
Understanding your super and what a split means can help you plan a retirement that still works for you.
We can explain your super and what a proposed split would mean for your retirement.
Super can be split by a superannuation agreement or a court order, including between de facto partners. The split amount usually moves into a super account in the receiving partner’s name and stays preserved until a condition of release is met, such as retiring after reaching your preservation age. Defined benefit interests are valued under special rules, which your lawyer or an actuary works through.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Every super account in either name, including accounts from earlier jobs, listed with current balances
- A superannuation information request with a Form 6 declaration, which you send and the fund answers with account details
- A superannuation agreement or a court order, as the two ways a split is made
- Preservation of a split amount, and the conditions of release that decide when it can be accessed
- Defined benefit interests, where a valuation under special rules replaces the balance on a statement
- Insurance held inside each super account, and whether cover changes when an account is split or rolled over
- Tax components of the split amount, which carry across in the same proportions as the original account
- Your total super balance after the split, and the contributions that balance may allow from here
The Settlement and Your Plan
Before you agree to a settlement, would it help to see what it means long term?
Seeing each offer modelled against your cashflow and retirement can help you decide with the long-term picture clear.
We’ll model what a proposed settlement would mean for your cashflow, savings and retirement before you agree to it.
Super, home equity and cash of the same value don’t work the same way: super is generally preserved, a home carries ongoing costs, and cash is available now. Any family lawyer you work with negotiates and advises on the legal position. We can show you what each proposed mix could mean for your plan, to discuss with them.
What we model with you:
- Super, home equity and cash compared on access, ongoing costs and how each fits your goals
- Keeping the home with a smaller share of super, against selling and dividing the proceeds
- Cashflow under each proposed settlement, including any child support paid or received
- Retirement projections under each option, with the assumptions behind them set out clearly
- Debts each of you will carry, and how the repayments fit the income you’ll rely on
- Tax on any asset transferred or sold, with the consequences checked by your accountant
- Company, trust or SMSF interests, planned around the value agreed between you or set by a valuer
- Figures shared with any family lawyer you use, with your consent, to help legal and financial advice line up
Cashflow for Your Own Household
When you’re running your own household, what would you like the budget to allow for?
Building a budget from today’s income can help your household meet its costs and start setting money aside.
We can help you build a budget for your own household from the income and payments you have now.
A budget set up for a shared household may not suit the one you’ll run on your own, so we start from your essential costs and the income you can reliably expect. There’s no single buffer amount that suits everyone, so we agree one with you based on your costs, income security and any support available.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Essential costs for your own household, set against the income you can reliably expect each month
- Any child support paid or received, included in the budget whether it’s self-managed or assessed
- Joint debts, and who is making the repayments while the settlement is being worked out
- A cash buffer for your household, with a realistic plan for building it from here
- Interest rates on each debt, and an order for paying them down that suits your cashflow
- Any moving costs, such as a rental bond, planned into the budget before they fall due
- Centrelink payments you may be eligible for, confirmed with Services Australia
- Regular savings towards your goals, once essential costs and debt repayments are covered
Insurance and Nominations
Who would you want your super, and any cover, to look after if something happened to you?
Reviewing who owns and receives each policy and super account can help them reflect your wishes as they are today.
We’ll review who owns each policy, who it would pay and whether the cover suits your situation now.
After a separation, a life policy may still be owned by or pay a former partner, and a super fund may still hold their name as a beneficiary. Cover amounts sized for a shared household may also need resizing. Cover you apply for, or any increase, depends on the insurer’s assessment. Any court order affecting a policy is your lawyer’s to advise on, and wills go to your solicitor.
Together, we’ll go through:
- Ownership of each life, TPD and trauma policy, and who is able to change the policy
- Death benefit nominations in each super fund, binding or not where offered, and whether a former partner is named
- Beneficiaries on any life policy held outside super, updated where the policy allows
- Sums insured resized for your debts, income needs and anyone who now depends on you
- Income protection matched to what you earn now and the costs a benefit would need to cover
- Cover held through an employer or super fund that depends on the account staying active
- A policy on your life owned by a former partner, and whether a new policy in your name would suit you
- Life cover for a home loan in your sole name, if you keep the property
The Family Home
If there is a family home, is keeping it the right choice for your future?
Testing the home’s running costs against your budget and goals can show whether keeping or selling it gives you more freedom.
We can help you weigh up keeping or selling the home against the rest of your plan.
Where a home is part of the settlement, keeping it may mean refinancing the loan into one name, which a mortgage broker can help with and a lender decides. We look at whether the repayments, rates and upkeep fit your budget and goals. Capital gains tax and the main residence exemption are checked with your accountant.
The decisions we weigh up together:
- Repayments on the home loan in one name, tested against the budget for your own household
- Council rates, insurance and maintenance on the home, added to the yearly cost of keeping the property
- Selling and buying something smaller, against keeping the home and holding less in super or cash
- Keeping the former home as a rental, weighed against cashflow and your next home, with the tax side checked by your accountant
- Whether the relationship breakdown CGT rollover applies to a transfer, confirmed with your accountant
- The main residence exemption on a home transferred or sold, checked with your accountant
- Refinancing into your sole name, which a mortgage broker arranges and a lender approves
- A deposit for a future home, if buying again is part of your plan
Keeping the home as a rental? Learn more about Property Investment Advice
Rebuilding After Settlement
Once the settlement is done, what do you want the years ahead to look like?
Your own plan, built around what you keep, can help you choose your goals and start making progress on them.
We’ll help you build a financial plan of your own around what you keep from the settlement.
Once the settlement is finalised, the question becomes what you want the years ahead to look like and how your money can support that. If a lump sum arrives, there’s no need to commit it straight away, and any super split generally stays in super. We set out the options with you, including investing, super contributions and when you might retire.
Together, we’ll plan:
- Goals for the years ahead, written in your own words before any numbers are run
- A settlement lump sum, held somewhere accessible while you decide where the money should go
- Investing part of a settlement, matched to your timeframe and comfort with ups and downs
- Before-tax and after-tax super contributions, within the caps and the limits your total super balance sets
- Your budget reviewed after the first few months in your own household, once spending is clear
- A retirement age that fits your new position, tested against your super and savings
- Estate planning considerations raised with your solicitor once your new position is clear
- Regular reviews of the plan as work, family and income change over the years
Separating Later in Life
Later in life, after a separation, what matters most to you in the retirement ahead?
A projection built on one balance can show the retirement income it may support, and the choices that could add to it.
We can show you how retirement on one balance could look if you’re separating later in life.
Separating closer to retirement can leave less time to build super, and retirement income needs planning on one balance rather than two. Once Services Australia accepts the separation, Age Pension eligibility may be assessed for you as a single person, under both an assets test and an income test. We model each option with you before anything is decided.
What we look at with you:
- Retirement income drawn from one balance, and how long different drawdown levels could last
- Age Pension eligibility as a single person, once Services Australia accepts the separation, under both tests
- Whether to keep working longer, and what a few more years of contributions could add
- Downsizing from the former home, and whether a downsizer contribution into super may suit
- A transition to retirement income stream, where you’ve reached preservation age and still work
- An account-based pension started from your share of super, once a condition of release is met
- Insurance inside super later in life, weighed against the premiums drawn from your balance
- A retirement budget for one, built around the lifestyle you’d like to have
Your Separation, Worked Through Together
Everything You Own and Owe, Listed
Accounts, loans, policies and super set out in one place, ready to share with a family lawyer.
Your Super Position Understood
Your super and any proposed split explained before an agreement or orders are finalised.
Settlement Options Modelled
Each proposed mix of home, super and cash compared against your cashflow and retirement.
A Budget for Your Own Household
Essential costs, debts and any support set out, with a buffer planned from here.
Cover Reviewed for Your New Situation
Life, TPD, trauma and income protection reviewed against your debts, income and anyone relying on you now.
Nominations Reviewed Against Your Wishes
Super nominations and policy beneficiaries reviewed, with your will raised with your solicitor.
Shared Figures for Legal Advice
Any family lawyer you work with and your financial adviser using the same figures, with your consent.
A Plan for the Years Ahead
A financial plan built around what you keep, with regular reviews as life changes.
Proactive, Holistic, and Experienced Financial Planning
The end of a relationship brings a lot to work through at once, and the money side can feel like one more thing on a long list. It doesn’t all need to be decided today. We’ll listen first, help you see where things stand, and take the decisions one at a time, in an order that makes sense for you. You can start with whatever feels most pressing, and in the initial conversation share only what you’re comfortable with.
The people around you are part of the plan too: children if you have them, anyone else you look out for, and the life you’d like to build from here. We’ll take things at a pace that suits you, prepare the financial figures and advice documents, and work alongside any family lawyer you’re using to help the financial and legal sides line up. Together, we’ll help you plan for the life you want next, with the years ahead in view.
Every financial decision impacts the next
Your Financial Life Is Connected
Great advice starts with understanding the bigger picture. Every stage of life presents new opportunities and challenges, from buying property and changing careers to growing your family, planning for retirement and protecting what matters most. At Ryker, we help connect every piece of your financial world into one clear strategy.
Your
Wealth
- Property & Investing
- Career & Income
- Tax Strategy
- Insurance & Protecting Your Family
- Super & SMSF
- Wealth & Investments
- Life Events & Changes
- Business & Wealth
- Legacy & Future Wealth
- Retirement Planning
Frequently Asked Questions
We’re invested in your long-term success. What we do is personal, and we take it personally.
Your financial decisions connect, so we consider the parts of your financial life that are relevant to the advice you need:
- Property & Investing
- Career & Income
- Tax Strategy
- Insurance & Protecting Your Family
- Super & SMSF
- Wealth & Investments
- Life Events & Changes
- Business & Wealth
- Legacy & Future Wealth
- Retirement Planning
This is how we help you make decisions today with your longer-term goals in view.
Everybody’s situation is different, so we listen first, understand what matters to you and explain your options clearly before we make a recommendation.
No, an equal split isn’t automatic. Super can be split by a superannuation agreement or a court order as part of a property settlement, and the amount reflects what’s agreed or ordered in your circumstances. This applies to married and de facto couples.
A family lawyer can advise on what may be appropriate. We can show you what a proposed split would mean for your retirement and the rest of your plan, so you can weigh it up with any legal advice you receive.
Usually not straight away. A split amount generally moves into a super account in your name and stays preserved until you meet a condition of release, such as retiring after reaching your preservation age. If you already meet one, you may be able to access the money sooner.
We can help you plan around the part that stays in super and the cash you’ll have to live on in the meantime.
Your family lawyer and financial adviser look after different parts of the same decisions. Your lawyer advises on the law, negotiates the settlement and prepares any agreement or orders. We help you understand what a proposed settlement would mean for your cashflow, super, insurance and retirement, then build the plan that follows it.
With your consent, we can share figures with your lawyer so you’re both working from the same information. We provide financial advice within our authorisations, and the legal advice stays with your lawyer.
An online calculator can be a useful starting point for seeing what you hold and trying different splits. It may use broad assumptions, and its results may not bring super preservation, insurance, tax and retirement timing together.
Advice can bring those together in a financial plan for your situation. We can model a proposed settlement against your cashflow, super and retirement, while any family lawyer you work with advises on the legal position.
You can start whenever you’re ready, and the first steps don’t depend on the divorce. A budget for your own household, a list of what you own and owe, and a review of insurance and nominations can all begin now.
The divorce and the property settlement are handled separately. Married couples generally need to file a property claim within 12 months of the divorce becoming final, and de facto couples within 2 years of separating. Your family lawyer can confirm the time limit that applies to you.
Any super nominations, insurance policies and will you have are worth reviewing, because they can guide or decide who would receive your money. Worth checking:
- Death benefit nominations in each super fund, binding or non-binding where the fund offers them
- Ownership and beneficiaries on any life insurance held outside super
- Your will and any powers of attorney, with your solicitor
- Joint accounts and cards, and any authority a former partner still holds
Some changes may be affected by your settlement or a court order, so check with your family lawyer before changing anything that forms part of it. We can review the super and insurance side with you and coordinate the rest.
It depends on the loan, your income, your other costs and what you’d give up elsewhere in the settlement. Keeping the home may mean refinancing the loan into your name, which a mortgage broker can help with and a lender decides.
We can test the repayments, rates, insurance and upkeep against a budget for your own household, and compare keeping the home with selling and holding more in super or cash. Your accountant can confirm any tax consequences.
A plan after settlement starts with what you’d like the next stage of life to look like, and it’s built around what you keep. If a cash lump sum arrives, there’s no need to commit it straight away, and it can sit somewhere accessible while you think it through. Any super split generally stays in super until you meet a condition of release, such as retiring after reaching your preservation age.
From there we can look at a budget, a buffer, super contributions within the caps, investing, cover and a retirement date, in an order that suits your situation. We’ll review the plan with you as things change.
Your accountant and financial adviser bring different expertise to the same decisions. Your accountant can advise on tax reporting, structures and consequences; we help you plan how cashflow, debt, super, investments and protection work towards your goals. We can coordinate before important decisions.
What an accountant does
- Prepares and lodges tax returns, BAS and financial statements
- Advises on tax structures such as companies, trusts and partnerships
- Manages bookkeeping, payroll and ATO compliance
- Provides tax advice on the consequences of a transaction
What a financial adviser does
- Sets a long term strategy across retirement, investing and cash flow
- Builds wealth from early in a working life, starting with cash flow, a first home and super
- Recommends specific super funds, investments and personal insurance
- Operates under an Australian Financial Services Licence, which is required to give personal advice on financial products
- Handles retirement planning, Centrelink and aged care strategy, and estate planning considerations
Professional roles and authorisations matter. We provide financial advice within our authorisations and work with your accountant for specialist tax advice and lodgements.
Where they work together
- Tax position. Your accountant confirms your marginal rate, deductions and carried forward losses, which shapes decisions on super contributions, investment structures and the timing of asset sales.
- Business and entity structures. Your accountant advises on the structure itself and your financial adviser works within it for investments, insurance and succession planning.
- Cash flow. Your accountant’s figures can help us understand what’s available for debt repayment, protection and longer-term goals.
- Before key decisions. We can coordinate with your accountant on contributions, asset sales and other material choices in time to consider relevant tax consequences.
We’re a national service, so you can meet with us by phone or video from anywhere in Australia. We also have offices in three cities:
- Sydney: offices in Sydney CBD, Parramatta, Seven Hills, Ingleburn and Narellan, servicing areas including the City of Sydney, Eastern Suburbs, Inner West, North Shore, Northern Beaches, Sutherland Shire, Blacktown, Liverpool, Campbelltown and all surrounding suburbs.
- Melbourne: our St Kilda Road office, servicing areas including the City of Melbourne, Port Phillip, Boroondara, Monash, Casey, Wyndham and all surrounding suburbs.
- Brisbane: our Eagle Street office, servicing areas including Brisbane City, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Logan, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and all surrounding suburbs.
Yes, and nothing needs organising before we talk. Tell us what’s changed and what you’d like help with first, and share only what you’re comfortable discussing.
There’s no cost for the initial conversation. Any advice after that is a paid service, with its scope and fee agreed with you in writing first. We’ll explain how we can help, what we’ll look at first and what we’ll need to get started.
Reviews
Testimonials from Our Clients
Client Success Stories
A Property Sale Became a Full PlanEstimated long term financial benefitApprox $448,000
A Plan to Keep the Family HomeLife cover established$1.2 Million
Cover in Place and Fees LoweredImmediate value$1,055 a year
Super Fees More than HalvedProjected retirement uplift$416k
Income Covered for a New MortgageImmediate value$975 a year
A 13-Year Mortgage Paydown PlanPlanned mortgage paydown13 years
A First Home and Family CoveredImmediate value$1,346 a year
Age Pension Kept After an InheritanceProjected uplift at 90More than $642,000
Grow & Protect Your Wealth Today
Whatever’s on your mind, we’re here to help. You’ll speak with an authorised financial adviser who’ll listen first and get to know what matters to you.
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