Do I Pay Stamp Duty To Transfer My Property After A Divorce?

You have already agreed on the number. One of you keeps the house, the other gets paid out, and the buy-out figure is settled. Then the conveyancer asks what document the transfer is being made under, because that answer decides whether Revenue NSW assesses duty on the share moving across.

In New South Wales duty is generally not applicable for property being transferred after a marriage or de facto relationship ends. A transfer of property made as part of a property settlement after a relationship breaks down is exempt from transfer duty, which is what stamp duty is properly called, and the value of the property does not limit it. The exemption is not automatic though. It rests on the document sitting behind the transfer.

The exemption that removes the duty

Transfer duty is a state tax on moving property from one owner to another, charged on the dutiable value, which is the market value or the price paid, whichever is higher. Separating does not change that on its own.

What changes is a specific exemption for relationship breakdowns. Where the relationship has broken down irretrievably and the transfer is part of the property settlement between the two of you, no duty is charged, however much the property is worth, but you need some documents to prove that before organising a transfer.

The exemption sits in section 68 of the Duties Act 1997 (NSW): s 68(1) for the breakdown of a marriage, s 68(1A) for a de facto relationship, s 68(2) for a domestic relationship.

That is New South Wales law. Every state and territory runs its own version, and I come back to that at the end.

Who qualifies

Revenue NSW applies four tests.

You qualify when:

• the relationship has broken down irretrievably
• the property is matrimonial property or relationship property
• the transfer is being made because of that breakdown, as part of your settlement
• the property goes to one of you, to a child of one of you, to a trustee for that child, or to a trustee in bankruptcy

Two things about that list surprise people. Nothing in it asks whether you are divorced, so the exemption is available while a divorce is still months away or has never been applied for. And nothing in it sets a minimum length of relationship for de facto couples.

Which properties are covered

Here is the most expensive misunderstanding on this topic. People are told the exemption only covers the family home, and that an investment property is treated differently. Under section 68 it is not.

The exemption covers the family home, investment properties, vacant land, business premises and any other real estate either of you owns. Motor vehicle registrations and superannuation interests can be covered too. Whose name the property is currently in makes no difference, and neither does the split: fifty-fifty, seventy-thirty, or one of you taking the whole title, the transfer is still exempt.

The rule people are thinking of is a different one, a separate exemption for couples who are still together and are transferring their principal place of residence between them. That one is limited to the home. Once the relationship has ended, section 68 applies instead, and it is far broader. I have covered the still-together and deceased-estate pathways in transfer property without paying stamp duty.

So the property is not the problem. The paperwork is where this falls over.

The document that makes it exempt

Agree everything at the kitchen table, shake on it, and Revenue NSW will still assess duty on the transfer. An informal split does not qualify: there is nothing to show the transfer was made under a settlement.

Revenue NSW accepts a transfer made under:

• an order of a court
• a binding financial agreement under the Family Law Act 1975
• an agreement made because of the separation, to divide your property
• a registered arbitration award

Holding one of those is the whole game. Revenue NSW wants evidence the transfer is happening because the relationship ended, and the document normally provided and accepted is a sealed set of consent orders.

That is why the consent orders route is the common one. You agree to the terms, file the application, and a registrar decides it on the papers. The court filing fee is $215 from 1 July 2026, and you do not attend court unless the registrar asks to see you.

How to claim it

The claim is normally made when the transfer is lodged, though duty already paid on a transfer that should have been exempt can still be refunded, which is covered below. To claim at lodgement you need:

1. Your settlement documented in one of the forms above.
2. An Application for exemption or refund, break-up of a marriage or de facto relationship (ODA 069).
3. A Purchaser/Transferee Declaration, Individual (ODA 076 I) from each person receiving the property.
4. Certified proof of identity for each transferee.
5. Evidence the relationship has ended: a separation certificate, a divorce certificate or divorce application, or a statutory declaration.

A solicitor or conveyancer normally lodges all of it as part of the transfer. When the exemption is allowed, the assessment comes back showing a nil balance.

Deadlines you cannot miss

There are three clocks here, and the clock starts ticking without anyone telling you.

Applications for property orders have to be made within 12 months of a divorce becoming final, or within two years of a de facto relationship breaking down. Outside those periods you need the court’s leave to apply, under section 44 of the Family Law Act, and leave is not a formality.

The third clock is the one people miss. If duty has already been paid on a transfer that should have been exempt, you have up to five years after the initial assessment to apply for a refund. Paying it does not mean you are stuck with it.

If Revenue NSW says no

You can lodge an objection within 60 days of the decision. If the objection is refused, or you have had no answer within 90 days, you can apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal for a review.

What the exemption is actually worth

Put the buy-out figure next to the duty figure. On a Sydney home worth $1.2 million where one of you transfers their half to the other, the half share has a dutiable value of $600,000.

At the 2026/27 rates, duty on $600,000 is $11,602 plus $4.50 for every $100 above $387,000, which comes to $21,187. Under the section 68 exemption it is nil. The thresholds are indexed every 1 July, so the figure moves each financial year.

Moving the title, and the loan behind it

The bank has to be dealt with separately. Whoever keeps the property usually needs the existing mortgage discharged or refinanced into their own name, and the conveyancer handles the title transfer once the lender is satisfied. The exemption removes the duty, not the lender’s need to approve you for the loan on your own income, so start that conversation early: a settlement that assumes one of you keeps the house only works if the bank agrees.

When the house is held by a company or a trust

Property held by a company or a trust one of you controls can still be relationship property for this exemption. Where the settlement moves an interest in a landholding company or trust rather than the title itself, section 163B of the Duties Act is the matching provision.

Where a business sits inside the settlement rather than just a house, the picture widens. Section 163B answers the acquisition your settlement makes; it does not follow every other movement in a restructure, and those are assessed on their own terms. That is where a settlement stops being a property question and becomes a tax question.

Every settlement involving a business has potential tax consequences. Selling assets might trigger capital gains tax, moving property between entities could incur stamp duty, and in some cases a restructure of the business could have GST applications. This is where having both a family lawyer and a good accountant or tax lawyer in your corner is essential. Otherwise, you could be stuck with a big tax debt that you did not take into account when you came to a settlement.

Get the accountant in at the same time as the lawyer, not after the orders are filed. Capital gains tax is the other one worth planning for before anything moves.

A word on the rest of the country

Every state and territory has its own version of this exemption, but the section, the forms and the evidence they want all differ. If the property is outside New South Wales, check with the revenue office in that state before assuming these steps apply.

Get the paperwork right before it is lodged

The difference between this transfer costing nothing and costing five figures is not the property or the split. It is whether the document behind the transfer is one Revenue NSW accepts, and that is far easier to fix before it is filed than after the assessment lands.

If your split is agreed and the paperwork is not, that is a short conversation rather than a matter. The free 10 minute discovery call exists for exactly this. Call 1300 614 732 or send us a message, and I will tell you which of those four documents your transfer needs and what evidence goes with it. Where consent orders are the right route, my team of property settlement lawyers prepares them.