Who built this, and why.
Property Split Calculator is built independently — not by a law firm, not for the referral economy. This page explains the operator behind it and the reasoning that shapes every design decision.
Independent of the legal industry
Most "calculators" you'll find when researching property settlement in Australia are owned by family-law firms. They serve a clear purpose: capture your details, route you to a paid consultation. The numbers are usually a four-question wizard wrapped around a lead-capture form.
This tool is built outside that economy. There are no referral fees, no upsell into a paid consultation, no follow-up emails trying to convert you. The $249 PDF unlock is the only thing that costs money. That's the entire commercial model.
The reasoning behind the design
Three principles drive what's here and what's not:
1. The whole pool, not the family home.
People searching online start with "who gets the house." That's the natural starting point — but in most matters that have run for more than a few years, superannuation is a larger asset than the home. The calculator forces you to look at all eight asset categories the Family Law Act actually weighs: property, super, vehicles, accounts, investments, business interests, other assets, and liabilities. The split looks different once you do.
2. Free modelling stays in your browser; paid modelling is encrypted and time-limited.
Asset details, contributions, and future-needs inputs stay on your device while you're modelling for free — nothing is transmitted to any server. When you choose to unlock the $249 PDF, your matter state is encrypted before storage, held only long enough to deliver your PDF and let you refine it for 30 days, then auto-deleted. The downloaded PDF is yours forever.
Encryption note: the encrypted matter is decryptable only with your email-bearing recovery link, or by the site operator if you contact support. Every operator decryption is recorded in a 5-year audit log. See the privacy page for the mechanics in full.
3. The PDF is a drafting aid, not legal advice.
The output the calculator produces — draft consent orders, court-formatted PDF, allocation summary — is structured the way Australian family lawyers work. It saves them and you time. It is not a substitute for legal review before filing. You walk into your lawyer's office with the PDF; they review and refine it; that's the workflow this tool was designed for. Nothing in the output is intended to be filed as-is without legal review.
What the operator is and isn't
The site is operated by a single person based in Australia. I'm not a practising family lawyer and the site explicitly does not offer legal advice — see the Terms and the disclaimer that appears throughout. My background is in software, not law; the calculator is a tool that models the framework, and the framework itself is the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) and the case law that interprets it.
Specific things the site is not:
- Not affiliated with any law firm, mediator practice, or financial planner.
- Not a "marketplace" routing you to paid services. There are no referral links.
- Not a substitute for the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia's filing requirements or for advice from a Family Law Specialist.
What you can do with this
- Two products, separately scoped: The DIY Consent Orders Pack documents an agreed division and produces filing-ready Application content + Minute of Consent Orders in PDF and editable Word ($249 at download). The Property Settlement Modeller walks the s.79 / s.75(2) framework and produces an on-screen modelled outcome range plus a free PDF.
- Pack: $249 at download. Modeller: free. The Modeller has no paywall and no checkout. The Pack costs $249 only when you choose to download — that unlocks 30 days of editing plus lifetime download via the emailed access link. The asset-pool data carries across the two products, so starting with the Modeller and finishing with the Pack is a normal flow.
- Reach out: If you find an error in the math or a confusing piece of UI, the FAQ has contact details. Independent feedback is the main way the tool improves.
How this site makes money
We charge $249 once for the Pack, and only when you choose to download. The Modeller is free. That’s the entire commercial model. We do not take referral fees from law firms. We do not run ads. We do not sell your data. We do not auto-renew. One matter, one charge.
The reason this site exists is the same reason the price is $249 not $59 or $1,500: the work that goes into the Pack saves a separating couple something between $1,500 (mid-range fixed-fee solicitor for the same prep) and $5,000+ (hourly solicitor through to filing). $249 sits in the gap where the price is high enough to fund the work and low enough that the saving is obvious.
Four principles we work to
- We are not a lawyer, and that’s the point. The calculator structures the inputs to the Court’s framework. Fairness analysis, fact-specific advice, and the question of whether your particular orders should be filed are conversations you have with a qualified Australian family lawyer.
- Honest about what the tool does and doesn’t. The Pack documents an agreed division. The Modeller models the framework. Neither replaces legal advice. We say so on every relevant surface, not just in fine print.
- Solo-first. The calculator works for one user acting alone. You don’t need your ex-partner’s involvement, login, or consent. (Many separating people don’t have a productive working relationship with their ex-partner; the calculator is built around that reality, not against it.)
- No dark patterns. No auto-renewal. No upsells. No pre-checked marketing-email boxes. The calculator runs in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere until you choose to download. The 24-hour no-questions refund window is published in the same paragraph as the price, not buried.
Disclaimer (the legal bit)
Nothing on this site is legal advice. The Property Split Calculator produces estimates based on the inputs you provide; outcomes in property settlement are fact-specific and depend on the circumstances of each matter. Always seek advice from a qualified Australian family lawyer before filing consent orders or relying on any output from this tool in legal proceedings.