De Facto Relationship Lawyers Sydney

Many couples live together for years without marrying. When they separate, one partner is often surprised that the other can claim a share of the house or savings in their name. The other partner is often surprised to learn how strong their claim can be, even if they were never on the title.

The law treats most de facto couples in the same way as married couples. The main differences are whether your relationship qualifies, and the two-year deadline. We help you work out where you stand, quickly.

NSW referred its powers over de facto property disputes to the Commonwealth, so de facto relationships that ended on or after 1 March 2009 are dealt with under Part VIIIAB of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). That includes same-sex couples, who have exactly the same rights.

Is it a de facto relationship? The Act describes a relationship between two people who live together as a couple on a genuine domestic basis, and lists circumstances the court may consider: duration, living arrangements, the nature of the relationship, financial interdependence, property, the degree of mutual commitment, care of children, reputation and public aspects, and whether the relationship was registered.

Does it meet the threshold? Even where a relationship existed, the court can make property or maintenance orders only if one of the following applies:

• the relationship lasted at least two years in total; or
• there is a child of the relationship; or
• one party made substantial contributions and failing to make an order would result in serious injustice; or
• the relationship was registered under a state relationships register.

There are also geographical requirements: generally, at least one party must have been ordinarily resident in a participating jurisdiction such as NSW.

Property and maintenance
If the threshold is met, the court applies the same framework as for married couples, now expressly set out in the Act following the June 2025 amendments.

When did it start, and when did it end? Couples who kept two homes, or separated and got back together, often disagree about dates. Those dates decide whether the relationship qualifies and when the deadline runs out.

Property one of you owned before
If one partner owned the home before you moved in, the length of the relationship and what the other partner contributed will largely decide how it is shared.

Protecting yourselves in advance
Couples moving in together can make a cohabitation agreement setting out what happens if they separate.

We begin by testing the threshold and fixing the dates, using documents rather than recollection: leases, bank statements, tax returns, correspondence, and how the relationship was described to others. That early work determines strategy.

From there, we run a de facto matter as we would any property settlement (full disclosure, proper valuations, and negotiation from evidence) with one difference: the two-year deadline is always in view. If agreement is not in reach, we file in time.