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SEPARATION LAWYER ON WAYS TO FORMALISE AN AGREEMENT REACHED

CONSENT ORDERS

Consent Orders are generally the best way to formalise an agreement reached about property and or parenting matters.

To do this an Application for Consent Orders is to be filed with the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. The Application should contain or have attached proposed Orders detailing the agreement reached, generally with time frames to comply with the agreement.

The application seeks:

  • General information about each party;
  • Details about the relationship;
  • Details about other court matters;
  • Details about any children;
  • Details about the orders sought;
  • Details of all income, assets, liabilities, debt, superannuation and financial resources of the parties; and
  • Details about the financial effect of the proposed division (for property orders only).

Due to the nature of the document and the precise drafting of the Orders sought we encourage you to seek assistance from our separation lawyer. [...]  READ MORE →

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A DIVORCE LAWYER DISCUSSES THE IMPORTANCE OF INCLUDING AN APPROPRIATE PROVISION IN A FINANCIAL AGREEMENT

A divorce lawyer can advise you of the various provisions in the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) that allow for the protection of financial resources and matters. Often, when parties enter a relationship there is a discussion about financial resources; how they are to be used in the relationship or how they will be used for the maintenance of children to come from the relationship.

To account for these considerations, a financial agreement can be drafted by a divorce lawyer and signed by the parties. This type of document is a legally enforceable tool that provides a set of conditions for the distribution and future use of monies. [...]  READ MORE →

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A prenuptial agreement lawyer explains how to change a binding financial agreement

It is best to seek out a prenuptial agreement lawyer if you want to dispute a binding financial agreement (‘BFA’). This type of agreement, like any other contract in law is subject to strict rules. However, s 90K (1) of the Family Law Act 1975 allows a court to set aside a binding financial agreement. There is a list of reasons outlined in this section including:

  • The agreement is obtained by fraud
  • The agreement is void, voidable or unenforceable
  • Arising circumstances make it impracticable for part of or the entire agreement to be carried out

A prenuptial agreement lawyer can advise you on what makes an act of “fraud”. Ordinarily it is involves using false representations to obtain an unjust advantage. However, to prove fraud, it must be shown that the false representation was made knowingly. This can be either without belief in its truth or in a reckless manner. [...]  READ MORE →

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A prenuptial agreement lawyer’s role in disputing a BFA

It is best to seek out a prenuptial agreement lawyer if you want to dispute a binding financial agreement (‘BFA’). This type of agreement, like any other contract in law is subject to strict rules. However, s 90K (1) of the Family Law Act 1975 allows a court to set aside a binding financial agreement. There is a list of reasons outlined in this section including:

  • The agreement was obtained by fraud
  • The agreement is void, voidable or unenforceable
  • If arising circumstances make it impracticable for part of or the entire agreement to be carried out

Fraud

A prenuptial agreement lawyer can advise you on what makes an act of “fraud”. Ordinarily it is involves using false representations to obtain an unjust advantage. To prove fraud, it must be shown that the false representation was made knowingly. This can be either without belief in its truth or in a reckless manner. [...]  READ MORE →

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Court introduces new initiatives to help alleviate the significant delays in the Court

A divorce lawyer will advise you that the Court delays in hearing and finalising your property application under the Family Law Act have in some registries became even longer. It is for this reason that the divorce lawyer tries to encourage their client to consider mediation either privately or through the Court.

The Court itself is also considering options to help reduce the back log of cases.  A divorce lawyer will provide information about the PPP Program currently being tried out in some registries including at the Parramatta Federal Circuit Court. [...]  READ MORE →

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Recent Family Court Case Sheds Light on What Initial Contributions are Really Worth?

On 1 May 2020, the Family Court handed down the decision of Barnell & Barnell. This matter involved a wife’s separation lawyer seeking to appeal a final judgment based on the Court’s treatment of the husband’s initial contributions.

The husband purchased Property B in 1988 prior to the commencement of the relationship in 1995. While no valuation was conducted on the property as at the commencement of cohabitation, the current value was agreed to be $340,000.

Given the length of the relationship and consistent gifts of money from the wife’s parents, the wife’s separation lawyer argued that the overall contributions of the parties should be considered equal. The Judge disagreed and said that to do so, would be to give insufficient weight to the fact that Property B was unencumbered at the commencement of the relationship and has not since been improved by either party. As the value of Property B represented some 36% of the net property pool, the Judge held that the husband’s contribution must be accorded significant weight. The Judge made an assessment of contributions as 62.5% to the husband and 37.5% to the wife being a 25% difference in contributions to reflect the various contributions of both parties. [...]  READ MORE →

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The Changing Stigma Associated with Signing a Prenuptial Agreement

The idea of a binding financial agreement, commonly known as a prenuptial agreement has traditionally been associated with a negative and unromantic stigma; often automatically suggesting that the individual seeking the prenup is already having doubts about the relationship.

This stigma however is dwindling away with more millennial couples now seeing the positive side to prenuptial agreements. Statistics have illustrated a rise over the past two decades of the median age of couples marrying for the first time.  More individuals are now entering into relationships with existing assets including real estate and established businesses. Prenuptial agreements are more often being viewed by such individuals as analogous to buying insurance. No one buys insurance with the intention of crashing their car or having their home robbed, they purchase it for peace of mind just in case it happens. Likewise, parties don’t get married and enter a prenuptial agreement with a plan to get divorced; it is just insurance in the event that things don’t go to plan. [...]  READ MORE →

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Divorce Lawyer Parramatta Explains the Requirements for a Binding Prenuptial Agreement

Why it is important to speak to a divorce lawyer Parramatta

When formulating a Binding Financial Agreement, commonly known as a prenuptial agreement,  there is no requirement for Court approval and only independent legal advice is necessary in the execution of the prenuptial agreement. It is advised that you speak to a specialist divorce lawyer Parramatta who is well informed of the particular compliance criteria for a binding agreement to be formed.

Prenuptial agreements are very complicated and require strict compliance with legislation for the agreement to be valid. Appropriate legal advice from a divorce lawyer Parramatta is vital, as in the event that parties do separate and wish to enforce the agreement, the Court has the power to set it aside as invalid and unenforceable if it was not properly executed in accordance with certain criteria. [...]  READ MORE →

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Prenuptial Agreement upheld on Appeal – De Facto Relationship with one woman while married to another

In the recent decision of Sha & Cham [2017], the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia considered an appeal by the Appellant Husband (who we will call Mr B) and the Respondent De Facto Wife (who we will call Ms C).

Background

The appeal arose from the first instance decision of His Honour Judge Johnston in proceedings before the Family Court of Australia. In those proceedings Ms C bought an application seeking injunctive orders and enforcement of a s90UC Binding Financial Agreement, more commonly referred to as a prenuptial agreement which She and Mr B had entered during the course of their relationship. [...]  READ MORE →