Section 85 — Property (Relationships) Act 1976: Marriages, civil unions, and de facto relationships of short duration

85 Marriages, civil unions, and de facto relationships of short duration (1) If a marriage or civil union was a relationship of short duration (as defined in section 2E ), the share of the surviving spouse or civil union partner in the relationship property is determined in accordance with sections 11 to 13 . (2) Section 14 applies to a marriage or civil union to which subsection (1) applies only if the Court, having regard to all the circumstances of the marriage or civil union, considers that the application of sections 11 to 12 would be unjust. (3) If a de facto relationship is a relationship of short duration (as defined in section 2E ), the Court cannot make an order under this Act for the division of relationship property unless— (a) the Court is satisfied— (i) that there is a child of the de facto relationship; or (ii) that the surviving de facto partner or, on an application made by the deceased de facto partner's personal representative, the deceased de facto partner has made a substantial contribution to the de facto relationship; and (b) the Court is satisfied that failure to make the order would result in serious injustice. (4) If subsection (3) applies, and the Court is satisfied that the grounds specified in that subsection for making an order on an application made under this Act are made out, the share of the surviving de facto partner and of the deceased de facto partner's estate in the relationship property is to be determined in accordance with the contribution of each de facto partner to the de facto relationship. Sections 55 to 57 were repealed, and new Part 8 (comprising sections 55 to 95) and Part 9 (comprising sections 96 to 99) were inserted, as from 1 February 2002, by section 61 Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2001 (2001 No 5). See Part 9 of this Act as to the transitional and saving provisions. The heading to section 85 was amended, as from 26 April 2005, by section 3(4) Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 19) by inserting the words “ , civil unions, ” after the word “ Marriages ” . Subsection (1) was amended, as from 26 April 2005, by section 3(4) Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 19) by inserting the words “ or civil union ” after the word “ marriage ” . Subsection (1) was amended, as from 26 April 2005, by section 3(4) Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 19) by inserting the words “ or civil union partner ” after the word “ spouse ” . Subsection (2) was amended, as from 26 April 2005, by section 3(4) Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 19) by inserting the words “ or civil union ” after the word “ marriage ” in both places it appears.