All the circumstances of the relationship are taken into account. De facto couples can contract out of the Act from 1 August 2001. The contracting out provisions come into force 6 months before the rest of the Act so that de facto couples can get their contracts into place before the main parts of the Act apply. To contract out couples must agree in writing and each party must get independent legal advice. If couples already have a contracting out agreement that is valid under the general law it will still be upheld under the new law.
All couples can make a contracting out agreement before or at any time during the relationship.
The rules in the Act will apply to property division when the relationship ends. The general starting point is that relationship property will be divided equally between the partners. The starting point for division of relationship property is equal shares. The rules defining separate property will generally remain the same. However, there are two changes aimed at addressing economic disparities which affect separate property.