the court asked a question
Updated 17 August 2026If a Registrar writes back asking for something before deciding your application, that is called a requisition. It is a normal part of consent orders and it happens to applications prepared by lawyers too. Your application has not been refused. You have been asked a question, you answer it, and it goes back in the queue.
Read the requisition twice and find the noun. Almost every one of them is about a specific thing: a missing figure, a document that was not attached, a date, or an explanation the Registrar wants in writing. Work out which of the three kinds below yours is, because they have completely different fixes and only one of them involves us.
The three kinds
1. Something is missing or does not add up
The requisition names a field, an item number, a total, or a document. It reads like an administrative complaint rather than a question about your agreement.
If this is because our software filled the form wrongly, it is ours to fix and we fix it free. Send us the wording of the requisition, through the support form or to support@thelaststep.com.au, and we will tell you within two business days whether it is ours. If it is, we correct the tool, you regenerate your pack, and you refile. No further charge, and the fix goes into the tool so the next couple never hits it.
2. Something you typed is wrong
A name spelled two different ways, a date that does not match, an account or fund named loosely, a figure that is not what you meant. Common, easily fixed, and nothing to do with anyone else.
Go back to the tool, change it, and generate again. Both of you sign the new documents and refile. Regenerating is free and unlimited for twelve months.
3. The Registrar wants to understand your agreement
This is the one people find unsettling and it is usually the least alarming. Before making consent orders a Registrar has to be satisfied the division is just and equitable, and sometimes they want that explained more fully. You will see language about being satisfied, or about why the division is appropriate, or a request for more detail about contributions.
This is not a software fault and there is nothing for us to fix. It is about your circumstances, which only the two of you know. Usually the answer is to say more in the contributions sections of the Application, in your own words, about who brought what into the relationship, who paid for what, and who cared for the children and the home. If you are uneasy, this is a very sensible point at which to pay a family lawyer for an hour of their time. You do not need a lawyer for the whole matter to get advice on one question.
The common ones, and what to do
| What the Registrar asks about | Usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The proposed division does not appear just and equitable, or more explanation is needed | Your contributions sections are too thin for a division that far from equal | Add detail in your own words in the tool, regenerate, resign, refile. Consider an hour with a lawyer. |
| Proof of a superannuation value is missing | The fund's statement or valuation was not attached when filing | Attach it and refile. The tool does not attach it for you: the filing sheet in your pack lists what to attach. |
| The superannuation trustee has not been given procedural fairness | The fund was not written to, or the 28 days had not passed, before filing | Send the trustee letter from your pack, wait out the objection period, then refile. This has to happen before you sign, and the filing sheet says so. |
| Figures do not reconcile, or a total is inconsistent | Either an edited Word file, or a fault in our software | If you edited the documents by hand, regenerate instead of editing. If you did not, send us the wording: this one is likely ours. |
| A form or page appears to be missing | Part of the pack was not lodged, or an attachment page was left out | Check the pack against the filing sheet and lodge the missing part. |
| Signatures or dates are a problem | Pages unsigned, or the two of you signed the same document on different days | Each of you signs every page, and each signs their own documents on a single day. Resign and refile. |
| The application is out of time | More than 12 months since a finalised divorce, or 2 years since a de facto separation, without both consents recorded | Both of you must consent to the application proceeding out of time. The tool captures this. If it is not showing, go back to part 03. |
| Names or details do not match across the documents | A typing inconsistency, often a middle name used in one place only | Fix it once in the tool and regenerate. Everything is filled from the same answers, so one correction fixes every document. |
| An earlier order, agreement or case was not disclosed | A question in part 03 was answered no when it should have been yes | Correct the answer, regenerate, refile. If there is an existing binding financial agreement, this needs a lawyer and the tool will say so. |
Do not fix figures by opening the Word documents and typing over them. The Application contains a table of what each of you ends up with, and its numbers have to agree exactly with the figures earlier in the form. The tool guarantees that agreement. Editing by hand breaks it silently, and an inconsistent total is one of the most common reasons a Registrar writes back. Cosmetic typos in words are fine to fix in Word. Anything with a number in it, anyone's name, or who gets what, should be changed in the tool.
If you need to contact us
Use the support form, choose “a requisition arrived” as the topic, and paste the wording of the requisition. That one thing lets us tell you immediately which of the three kinds it is. Without it we cannot help, and it is the only thing we will ever ask you for.
Please do not send us your documents, your figures or your financial details. We do not store your matter and we do not want a copy of it: that is deliberate, and the privacy policy explains why. If we cannot work out what went wrong from your description, we will offer you a short screen-sharing call so we can watch it happen on your own device. You stay in control of what is on screen, we do not record it, and we take no copy of your matter. It is the only way to diagnose a fault without asking you for the file, and we would rather look for two minutes than hold your documents.
We answer in writing. There is no support phone line, which is part of keeping the price where it is. Where a fault needs to be seen rather than described, we arrange a screen-sharing call for that one purpose.