 In April 2014, a federal court judge ruled that a heterosexual couple who had a child and lived together for 13 years were not in a "de facto" relationship and thus the court had no jurisdiction to divide up their property under family law following a request for separation.In his ruling, the judge stated that "de facto relationship(s) may be described as "marriage-like" but it is not a marriage and has significant differences socially, financially and emotionally.