Here in Australia, the processes of getting a divorce and sorting out the split of property, is supposed to be getting easier (for those of us who don’t want (or cannot afford) lawyer fees.

Having just ended a 2+ year process of getting a divorce & a consent order (property settlement), I can see that the scales are still weighted in favor of guiding people away from a DIY solution.

I persisted, and with a fair amount of digging, managed to do it on a minimal budget.

First the usual disclaimer:

• I’m not a lawyer, so don’t blame me if what worked in my specific situation doesn’t work for you.
• This only works if both parties are in agreement on the split. If there is no agreement, then lawyers are the only way to go (unfortunately).

In my case, my ex did start getting lawyers involved, assuming I would just agree to whatever they proposed. After strongly disagreeing with an very unfair (for me) series of proposals, she eventually realised that the best results for everyone was to actually talk to me, and come to a mutually agreeable solution.

By that stage, I had taken a gamble and actually filed for divorce in Brisbane. Once someone starts divorce proceedings, the other party cannot normally stop the divorce. The gamble was: once the divorce was final, there was then a 12 month time limit on completing the consent order. If she delayed, then someone was going to have a major inconvenience (eg she could be forced to pay half the mortgage, which I was now paying… but then she could also move back in and claim half the living area… or she could force a sale of the house, to resolve any outstanding equity in the house).

Getting a divorce is actually quite easy, but it should be done after a consent order.

In the end we decided that I would get the house (and a considerable mortgage), while she would get a large chunk of my superannuation.

They say you can do it yourself, but then you get strongly pushed to get legal advice at every turn.

I ignored the “suggestions” to get legal advice… I can be stubborn sometimes. But I also got free (but limited) advice from real lawyers at community centres on many occasions… they won’t do anything for you, but they can point you in the right direction.

In the end we kept our son out of the consent order (it removed many complications), and so we just split the household effects, the 2 cars, the super, and the house itself.

The wording of the actual consent order was mostly straightforward (I can write legal-sounding stuff without too much trouble).

But splitting the superannuation ended up being the biggest problem.

It turns out you must give the super funds involved 30 days notice of how you are going to split the super, and if the wording of the split is not “correct” (ie it must not make sense to a normal human), then they (in this case, Australian Super) will reject it.

You must get the super fund to agree in writing that they do not object to the split (and send them a “form 6″ so that they can legally disclose how much money is in the super fund), before you file the consent order to a magistrate.

In the end, these are the orders that were approved (I’m publishing them here, in the hope that they will help minimise frustration for someone else in a similar situation)

The main part goes like this:

CONSENT ORDERS

BY CONSENT IT IS ORDERED

1. That the applicant will retain ownership, all interest and liabilities in the business “XYZ Widgets” and the respondent relinquishes any claims in relation thereto.
2. That the applicant will retain the family home at 2 Divorce Court, Deception Cove, VIC 7654, (the Home), and will also be fully and solely responsible for any mortgages, debts and Lines Of Credit, related to the Home.
3. That the respondent fully relinquishes the family home at 2 Divorce Court, Deception Cove, VIC 7654, (the Home) and all associated liabilities, and is obliged to sign any relevant documents relating to relinquishing ownership and refinancing of the Home, within 30 days of receiving said documents. If a signature cannot be obtained within 30 days, then the court will be authorised to sign on behalf of the respondent.
4. That the respondent will retain the red 1965 Hyundai Getz 5 door hatch.
5. That the applicant will retain the white 1966 Hyundai Getz 3 door hatch.
6. That the respondent will retain all furniture, appliances, and any other goods that have already been removed from the family home at 2 Divorce Court, Deception Cove, VIC 7654.
7. That the applicant will retain all furniture, appliances, and any other goods that are currently at the family home at 2 Divorce Court, Deception Cove, VIC 7654.
8. That in accordance with section 90MT(1) ( b ) of the Family Law Act 1975, (the Act), whenever a splittable payment within the meaning of section 90ME of the Act becomes payable to or on behalf of Basil Bushy from his interest in his Australian Super Superannuation account, Sandy Beach Bushy is entitled to be paid (by the Trustee of Australian Super) the amount calculated in accordance with Part 6 of the Family Law (Superannuation) Regulations 2001, using a base amount of $25,000 and there is a corresponding reduction in the entitlement that Basil Bushy would have had but for these Orders.

The Superannuation Fund responsible for the split of funds will be Australian Super. The applicant currently has funds with Australian Super (account number 123456789). The respondent currently has funds with Australian Super (account number 987654321).

 The operative time for order 8 is: 4 business days after the service of the final orders on the trustee.

Notice the weird wording of part 8 (which just means please transfer $25,000 from Basils super account, to the super account of Sandy Beach Bushy).

Also note that in part 3: the party thats giving up ownership of the house cannot stall or delay the transfer of house ownership by refusing to sign… as the court can now sign on behalf of the recalcitrant party.

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This one will only apply to people who live in Australia.

I don’t often advertise goods and services for other companies, but after 7 years with the same ISP, and having helped many people with changing their current plan to a much cheaper one, all without asking for anything in return, I decided to become a TPG reseller.

I’m hoping to generate a small amount of revenue from being a reseller, but my main aim is to let you know that I’m so happy with my own personal experience with TPG over such a long period, that you can genuinely save a lot of money by switching to TPG.

I regularly look around for cheap internet plans, but in the last 7 years, I’m yet to find a company that provides a better value internet service than TPG.

Since I do a lot of my work on the internet, and I also design websites, I find I spend most of my time on the internet… probably more that most people.

Yet it might surprise you to find that I am using TPGs cheapest internet plan at $29.99 per month

For that, I get 50GB per month, which I rarely exceed. And on top of that, the 50GB is actually split into 25GB peak, and 25GB off-peak… So I rarely exceed 25GB per month during normal daily hours.

And the internet is used by 3 active PCs, 2 mobile phones, and a few android tablets.

Now, if you want to check out the details, go to:

Great value internet plans

Please note:

What you pay will be the same, regardless of whether you go to TPG directly, or if you signup via my reseller links, except:

• with TPG direct, TPG gets to keep all your money
• with me, you will be helping out a struggling computer repairer (me)

No related posts.

As new small businesses begin to expand, paperwork can become out of control and automation of some tasks a necessity. When you are a one person show, a filing cabinet and a couple of spreadsheets will be enough to sort out your profit, your pay and your tax but when you begin to employ staff, or segregate existing staff into departments, payroll software should be taken into consideration. If you are unsure as to whether your business needs this software have a look at the seven key benefits below:

1.)    Improved Efficiency In Payroll

Payroll is a complicated department that requires the utmost accuracy, and quite rightly too, no employee will be productive if their pay is wrong. Processing payroll manually requires a number of complex calculations, such as individual tax calculations for each paycheque; this wastes time that could be spent more productively. Payroll software can perform these tasks automatically once an employee’s details have been entered.

2.) Avoid Duplicate Records

When a number of departments (HR, Accounting Services, Payroll etc…) are using different software to collate payroll data it can often result in a number of duplicate records being created in the process. With one piece of payroll software that all departments could input data into this needless waste of time is eliminated. In addition to this, payroll software will more often than not allow customised security access for different departments. So, if security between departments is a concern, this is a feature to look out for.

3.) Track Employee Time

While ‘tracking’ employees may sound a little Orwellian, time tracking is actually beneficial to both the employee and the business. Employees on an hourly rate will receive the exact level of pay they are due (so no overtime ‘goes missing’) and the business can save time by reducing the effort and expense cause by incorrect time management by employees. The time is tracked using a clock within the payroll software’s daily log.

4.) Create Reports Quickly and Easily.

As would be expected, general payroll reports can be created by the software allowing managers a chance to review financial information. More specific reports can also be created though. Daily time logs can be reviewed with time reports. Employee lists can be created to help human resources, hiring and training staff. The accounts department can get help filing taxes via withholding reports and so on… a report can be created for almost any department where the software is in use.

5.) Simplify Tax Filing

Tax is nobody’s friend, so getting help to lighten the burden it has on your business is always good news. Manually processing tax can cause errors and we all know how unsympathetic the taxman is when it comes to mistakes. Payroll software will also become aware of changing tax laws via updates. So, instead of risking expensive errors, let the payroll software do this for you.

6.) Save Money

Time is money – it is an old business cliché but a true one none the less. Running payroll with software saves time that would be wasted with compiling information, making calculations and altering records.  Simply put, saving time lowers overheads, which in turn, increases profit margins.

7.) Free Time

Time may be money but it is also opportunity. By minimizing errors and making the business more efficient payroll software offers the business owner the opportunity to seriously consider how to use all their new found time productively.

No related posts.

OK, this one will only apply to people who live in Australia.

I don’t often advertise goods and services for other companies, but after 7 years with the same ISP, 2 years with the same ISP for my mobile phones, and having helped many people with changing their current plan to a much cheaper one, all without asking for anything in return, I decided to become a TPG reseller.

I’m hoping to generate a small amount of revenue from being a reseller, but my main aim is to let you know that I’m so happy with my own personal experience with TPG over such a long period, that you can genuinely save a lot of money by switching to TPG.

Honestly: when I first found out that TPG had mobile phone plans, I was skeptical (I was with Virgin at the time).

At the time, there were 2 companies that I did not trust: Dodo and Soul (due to very bad customer service)

And TPG purchased Soul… So I decided to stay away from TPGs mobile phone offerings for about 2 years.

I eventually noticed that they had a $15 per month plan, that seemed similar to my Virgin $29 per month plan (both use the Optus Mobile Network)

When I looked more closely, I found it was actually MUCH better.

$550 of calls per month, 1.5GB of data per month (so I could actually use my android phone as a modem if I really wanted to).

So I tentatively tried 1 of my phones, and didn’t have a single problem.

There were no unexpected “gotchas”, and no need to worry about going over my call or data limits.

I then decided to get a phone for my 9 year old son, and try out the TPG $1 per month plan.

I figured that there had to be some sort of catch with this one… most likely the calls and SMS TXT messages would be much more expensive (per minute), compared to other plans.

Instead it was just the opposite: 9.9¢ TXT messages, and phone calls were 10¢ flagfall and 9.9¢ per minute. How good is that!

I now have 3 phones with TPG, and I’m paying a total of $31 per month (actually a tiny bit more, as the $1 plan sometimes involves paying an extra $1 or 2, and calls are made).

Now, if you want to check out the details, go to:

Cheap mobile phone plans

Please note:

What you pay will be the same, regardless of whether you go to TPG directly, or if you signup via my reseller links, except:

• with TPG direct, TPG gets to keep all your money
• with me, you will be helping out a struggling computer repairer (me)

If you are also looking for a good, and inexpensive android smartphone, I also sell those.

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While looking at various smart phones from chinese suppliers, I stumbled across an interesting mobile phone:

A phone with a built in wall projector.

My immediate reaction was: its probably impractical

If its like a traditional projector, it would get really hot, and the battery will probably run flat within a few minutes.

However, after some research, I found that Samsung have developed (and some chinese has copied) an LED based phone projector.

I wasn’t surprised about the size of the phone (it was bound to be thicker than most phones), but I was amazed that battery life while using the projector is (apparently) 3 hours!!!

And since the projector actually uses LEDs instead of Halogen globes, then you never need to replace the projector globe.

Having viewed a few videos of this device, I have noticed a minor shortfall: the brightness of the projected image seems lower than what you would expect from a “normal” projector.

After over 25 years in technology, there is not much new technology that surprises me anymore… It all become game of slight improvements, playing copycat, and the occasional new idea, so its not often that I see a product, where I can see a huge leap in technology (and the future possibilities) such that I think: “wow!”. But I think this is a great innovation.

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I’m supplying an abandoned accounting package called erecord, for a small fee of $14 (payable via paypal).

Over the last 2 years, I have had many hundreds of people download erecord.

And I am totally amazed at how many people just cannot do a simple task like type in their email addresses ( about 25% get it wrong ! ! ! )

What usually happens is: I get an email that someone like joe123@gmail.com has just purchased erecord.

Since the software is fully automated, I know that this person will get an email that gives them instructions on how to download erecord.

Then, after a few days/weeks, I sometimes get a brief email from the customer, saying something like:

I purchased erecord on date xyz

I have yet to receive the download instructions. Send me the download instructions ASAP

First off, I check that they actually paid: and often I find that the automated confirmation email I got was from, say, joe123@gmail.com, yet the “wheres my download” email might be from joe124@gmail.com

This is a simple (yet amazingly common) typing error. To correct it, I ask the customer to confirm their payment details, and then I send the download email to the new email address (and updating my website database with the new address)

Other times, its worse: the email arrives from joe.blue@yahoo.com, and the customer has lost all access to the old email in their paypal account.

That means that they have some serious problems with their paypal account, that needs fixing before it becomes a security risk.

However, I can still send the download email to the “new” email.

I’m still surprised at how often people make typing errors while doing financial transactions over the internet.

I’d hate to think what would happen if people had to enter the payment amount manually… id get payments varying from $0.14 upt to $1400 !!!

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