Financial aspects
Evidence will be required that you and your spouse share financial commitments and responsibilities, including:
• evidence of any joint ownership of real estate or other major assets (for example, cars, appliances) and any joint liabilities (for example, loans, insurance);
• sharing of finances;
• legal commitments that you and your spouse have undertaken as a couple;
• evidence that you and your spouse have operated joint bank accounts for a reasonable period of time; or
• sharing of household bills and expenses.
The nature of the household
You will be asked to provide evidence that you and your spouse share responsibilities within your household, including:
• your living arrangements;
• a statement outlining the basis on which responsibility for housework is distributed;
• joint ownership or joint rental of the residence in which you live;
• joint utilities accounts (electricity, gas, telephone);
• joint responsibility for bills for day-to-day living expenses;
• joint responsibility for children; or
• correspondence addressed to both you and your partner at the same address.
Social context of the relationship
How your relationship with your spouse is seen by your friends and family will be considered including:
• evidence that you and your spouse are generally accepted as a couple socially (for example, joint invitations, going out together, friends and acquaintances in common);
• the assessment of your friends and acquaintances about the nature of your relationship;
• evidence that you and your partner have declared your relationship to government bodies, commercial/public institutions or authorities;
• statutory declarations made by your or your spouse’s parents, family members, relatives and other friends;
• joint membership of organisations or groups;
• evidence of joint participation in sporting, cultural or social activities; or
• joint travel.
Note: Providing only statutory declarations from your and your spouse’s parents, family members, relatives and other friends is not normally sufficient to evidence your relationship.
The nature of your commitment to each other
Factors that could assist in evidencing mutual commitment between you and your spouse include:
• knowledge of each other’s personal circumstances (for example, background and family situation, which could be established at interview);
• intention that your relationship will be long-term (for example, the extent to which you have combined your affairs);
• the terms of your wills; or
• correspondence and itemised phone accounts to show that contact was maintained during any period of separation.
Note: Periods of ‘dating’ would not generally be considered to count
You must respond to this request within 28 calendar days after you are taken to have received this notification.
Best regards,