The Australian housing market is difficult to break into for most first home buyers and many couples have looked to their parents for some assistance to get their foot in the door. For many, parents may provide assistance to their children by allowing them to live at home rent-free or contributing to their deposit in the form of a gift or loan. In many cases, “the bank of mum and dad” is crucial to helping relatives to be able to buy their own home.
As it becomes more common for parents to provide financial support to the parties during a de-facto relationship or marriage, there is an increasing likelihood that these “third parties” may become involved in a dispute concerning a property settlement agreement between the parties if the relationship was to break down. For example, where there is an argument as to whether money received by the parties (or either of them) was a gift or a loan to be repaid. [...]