Calculators for Separated Parents

Navigating Separation: The Numbers You Need to Know

Going through a separation is one of the most stressful experiences in life — and the financial side often makes it worse. Between child support, dividing assets, and suddenly running two households on what used to fund one, the numbers can feel overwhelming.

These calculators won't replace professional advice, but they'll give you a clear starting point. Every formula uses current 2025-26 Australian rates from Services Australia, so you can plan with real numbers instead of guesswork.

Child Support: How It Actually Works

Australia's child support system uses an 8-step formula that considers both parents' incomes, the number of children, their ages, and how many nights each parent has care. The self-support amount for 2025-26 is ,463 — that's the amount deducted from each parent's income before the formula kicks in.

Use our child support estimator to run the full formula, or the care percentage calculator to see how nights translate into the percentage bands that affect your assessment.

Care Arrangements: Getting the Schedule Right

The care percentage isn't just about child support — it's about finding an arrangement that works for your kids. Different co-parenting schedules suit different ages and family situations. A week-on/week-off arrangement might work for school-age children but be too long for toddlers.

Our co-parenting schedule calculator visualises 8 common arrangements on a calendar, showing you exactly how the nights fall across a fortnight.

The Financial Reality of Two Households

One of the biggest shocks of separation is discovering how much it costs to run two households. Rent, utilities, insurance, groceries — almost everything doubles. Our two-household budget calculator helps you see the gap between one-home and two-home costs, so you can plan for the transition.

If you're splitting ongoing kids' expenses (school fees, medical, extracurriculars), the shared expenses splitter can work out each parent's share based on income proportions or a custom split.

Property and Assets: What You're Entitled To

Property settlement in Australia follows a 4-step process set by the Family Law Act. It's not automatically 50/50 — the court considers financial and non-financial contributions, future needs, and whether the split is just and equitable. Our property settlement estimator walks you through each step.

Keep in mind: you have 12 months after a divorce (or 2 years after a de facto separation) to apply for property settlement through the court.