What Marriage Changes - And What it Doesn't

Getting married changes your relationship status in the eyes of the law. It's a significant milestone. Being legally married comes with a range of rights and responsibiities.

While the Australian government grants couples in a de facto relationships many of the same rights and responsibilities as married couples, there is a greater burden of proof required for de facto status. To prove you are married all you need is the official marriage certificate you obtain from Births, Deaths, and Marriages in the state in which you were married, or from the overseas country in which you were married.

Things that marriage automatically changes

• You will each become the other's next of kin
• Your inheritance rights  will change, making you entitled to a certain percentage of your spouse's estate should they die without a will
• The validity of your will made before you got married (unless made in a certain way, it will become void)
  
• How Centrelink calculates your benefits (don't forget that you are required to notify Centrelink of your change in status)
• Your responsibility for any debts incurred by your spouse during the marriage.
• The obligation to support your spouse financially, including potential spousal maintenance after separation.
• The right to make decisions regarding medical treatment and end-of-life care for your spouse.
  

Things that marriage does not change

Not so long ago, a woman automatically lost many rights on marriage. Thankfully those days are past and getting married in the 21st century won't change the legal identity, assets, and liabilities of either of you, or the right to maintain your own individual identity and autonomy within the marriage, or

• to hold down a job
• to open a bank account in your own name without your spouse countersigning
• to have a credit card in your own name
• to own property and assets separately from you spouse
• to retain your surname or to change it to your spouse's surname
• to combine finances and assets with your spouse or to keep them separate
• to decide whether or not to have children
• the responsibility to provide for and raise children of the marriage together
• consent to intimacy (consummation of a marriage is not a legal requirement in Australia)
• to leave the marriage
• to apply for a divorce
  

In Australia, there is also no such thing as a joint tax return; every individual is responsible for completing their own individual tax return. However, if you get married you are required to notify the Australian Tax Office on your next tax return.

Being married to an Australian citizen does not

• automatically change your visa status, or
  
• give you the right to enter Australia, live in Australia, or gain Australian citizenship

Related Information

• Heads Up: Your Wedding Will Invalidate your Will
• Changing Your Name - Legal or by Marriage?