Divorce Cases
Will I have to go to court?
After you have applied for a divorce, your application will be considered by the Court.
Generally, divorce applications do not require you to attend a hearing, and can be dealt with by a Judicial Officer reading your application and supporting documents.
When you apply for a divorce by completing the on-line form on the eCourts Portal of WA, you will be asked if you would like the application to be dealt with in your absence.
If you indicate that you do not wish to attend, and the Court can deal with your application in your absence, you are not required to attend, but the Court may request further evidence if they are not satisfied your application has sufficient evidence that suitable arrangements have been made for the children, including a child who was treated by both parties to the marriage as a child of their family during the marriage.
It is also advisable to attend if you may need to provide additional evidence to explain your circumstances, for example, if you and your spouse were separated under one roof.
You are required to attend if your spouse has filed a Response to an Application for Divorce or if you have made another application that is being dealt with at the same time as your divorce application, for example, if you have requested that the court dispense with service.
Preparing for the hearing
Where the arrangements for any of the children have substantially changed since you elodged your application, you need to elodge an affidavit with the updated arrangements at least four days before the hearing. You will need to serve the affidavit on the other party before the hearing, and elodge an affidavit of service.
If you did not request the Court deal with your divorce application in your absence when you completed your on-line application, you MUST attend the hearing. The Court will not deal with your application if you do not attend.
You should bring all documents with you to court including a copy of your application and service documents.
If you are unable to attend in person, you may wish to apply to request to attend by phone.
Last updated: 6-Jun-2025
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