Post-Divorce Checklist for the ACT: Every Step After Your Divorce Is Final

Your divorce order is sitting in the Commonwealth Courts Portal. The legal marriage is over. But the administrative transition — the part that actually separates your daily life from your former spouse's — is just beginning. Here is every step, in the order that prevents mistakes.

Phase 1: Secure Your Identity (Weeks 1-2)

Download Your Divorce Order

Log into the Commonwealth Courts Portal, find your matter under "Available Files," and download the electronically sealed divorce order. This document becomes your primary proof for every update that follows. The order becomes final one month and one day after your hearing date.

Update Your ACT Driver Licence

If you are reverting to your birth name, visit an Access Canberra Service Centre (Gungahlin, Belconnen, Tuggeranong, or Woden) with your birth certificate, marriage certificate, and divorce order. The database update is free; a replacement card posts within 5-21 days. You must notify Access Canberra within 14 days of the name change.

Update Medicare and Tax Records

Update your Medicare card via the myGov portal — upload your divorce order and marriage certificate. The digital card updates immediately. Update your ATO records through the same myGov link. Both are free.

Update Your Passport

If your passport has more than two years of validity remaining, you qualify for a free replacement with your updated name. If it has less than two years, a full 10-year renewal costs A$422. Submit Form PC8 through Australia Post.

Phase 2: Separate Your Finances (Weeks 3-6)

Isolate Joint Bank Accounts

Contact your bank to convert joint accounts to "both to sign" (joint-signature) restriction. This prevents either party from unilaterally withdrawing funds while the property settlement is being executed. Then open new individual accounts at a separate institution.

Cancel any secondary credit cards immediately — as the primary cardholder, you remain liable for all charges on secondary cards regardless of who made them.

Begin the Mortgage Process

If one spouse is keeping the family home, the remaining owner must refinance the mortgage in their name alone. The bank requires a full credit assessment. Use Concession Code 232F when transferring the title to claim the ACT's stamp duty exemption under Section 74B of the Duties Act 1999.

Start the Super Splitting Process

Submit a Form 6 Declaration and Superannuation Information Request to each fund trustee. For CSS, PSS, and PSSap accounts (common among Canberra public servants), the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation charges A$170-A$187 for this information.

Draft your proposed splitting orders and serve them on the trustee at least 28 days before filing in court — skipping this step means the trustee can refuse to implement the split.

Phase 3: Protect Your Legacy (Months 2-3)

Update Your Will

Under Section 20A of the Wills Act 1968 (ACT), your divorce automatically revokes any gift or appointment to your former spouse in your existing will. But if your will left everything to your spouse with no alternative beneficiaries, you now have partial intestacy — your estate would be distributed under default ACT intestacy rules rather than according to your wishes.

Draft a new will as soon as possible after your divorce is finalised.

Revoke Your Enduring Power of Attorney

Under Section 59 of the Powers of Attorney Act 2006 (ACT), your EPA is automatically revoked to the extent it gives power to your former spouse. But if they were your sole attorney, you now have no one to manage your affairs if you lose capacity. Execute a new EPA naming a trusted person.

Update Superannuation Beneficiaries

A divorce does not invalidate a Binding Death Benefit Nomination (BDBN). If your ex-spouse is still listed on your super fund's BDBN, the trustee is legally required to pay your death benefit to them — regardless of your divorce. Submit a new BDBN to your fund immediately.

Update Life Insurance Beneficiaries

Contact your life insurer to update the nominated beneficiary on your policy. Unlike super, this is usually a simple form lodged directly with the insurer.

Phase 4: Government and Utility Updates

• Centrelink/Services Australia: Notify them of your change in relationship status to update any payments or entitlements
• Electoral Roll: Update your details with the Australian Electoral Commission
• Utilities: Transfer ActewAGL, Icon Water, and telecommunications accounts into your sole name
• Vehicle registration: Transfer operatorship through Access Canberra within 14 days (A$51.70 fee; stamp duty exempt with court orders under Section 213)
• Private health insurance: Split joint/family cover into an individual policy

The ACT After-Divorce Checklist provides this entire sequence as a printable tracker with deadlines, form references, and cost estimates for every step.

See more Australian Capital Territory guides →