In this video, OMB Solicitors Special Counsel and Family Law Solicitor, Chrissy Trueman, talks about what financial agreements are in family law matters.
Transcript
What are Financial Agreements in Family Law Matters?
Hi, I’m Chrissy Truman and I’m a family law solicitor with OMB solicitors. I get a lot of inquiries from clients wanting to know about financial agreements and how they can resolve their property settlement matter outside of court.
Financial agreement can be both pre and post nuptial, a lot of people refer to them as prenups. You’ve probably heard of that terminology before.
Prenuptial agreements and cohabitation agreements need to be strictly drafted in compliance with the Family Law Act, and they can be quite complex and difficult to ensure that they are binding upon the parties. A financial agreement can assist parties to work out how their division of property and assets will occur should they separate.
It can be a very difficult and uncomfortable conversation to have with your partner if you’re looking at some sort of prenup or cohabitation agreement, but I can help you navigate that process and work perhaps collaboratively with your partner’s legal representative.
Both parties need to have a lawyer to give them advice about signing a financial agreement to ensure that in the event of a breakdown of the relationship or the marriage, that the financial agreement is binding. It is a complex area of the law and we prepare financial agreements on a regular basis.
So if you’re looking to resolve your property matter outside of the family court system, a binding financial agreement is something you need to consider. Whilst we call them binding financial agreements, they are just financial agreements and they’re not binding until a court says they are so.
So we can prepare your financial agreement to make sure that they are legally binding as much as possible on the party, so if the agreement is ever contested in court, we want the outcome to be that it is binding on both parties.
A financial agreement can also not only work out the distribution of assets and property, it can also articulate what maintenance or spousal maintenance should be paid or could be paid by one spouse to the other, and it can encompass all of those types of property matters.
As I said, it is a complex area of the law. I’ve been practising and been admitted in family law for nearly 25 years now and I’m experienced practitioner.
If you are considering a prenuptial or postnuptial or cohabitation agreement and you want some advice about how to protect your assets in a financial agreement, reach out to me, make an appointment, come and have a chat and I’ll be happy to give you some advice about that matter.