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Divorce Lawyer Explains section 114 Orders – Restraining Travel to Enforce Property Settlements

A divorce lawyer explains how the Family Court can impose restrictions on travel to ensure compliance with Family Court Orders.

In accordance with section 114 of the Family Law Act, the Family Court has the power to restrain a person from leaving Australia pending compliance with Family Court Orders, including final orders.

The Court will consider the following:

  1. A person’s freedom of movement, and
  2. The likelihood that the Order will not be complied with if the paying party’s freedom to leave the country is not restrained.

Ultimately, the Judge is faced with a balancing exercise and will consider whether the person’s compliance with the Orders outweighs their personal freedom of movement. [...]  READ MORE →

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How Binding Financial Agreements can let you Decide the Terms of your Property Settlement Agreement

A Binding Financial Agreement (BFA) allows couples to negotiate a property settlement agreement that suits their needs. Unless successfully challenged, it will  prevent the Family Court from dealing with your future property or spousal maintenance claims.

Binding Financial Agreements can be made:

  1. Before a marriage under a s 90B Agreement, also known as a “pre-nuptial agreement” or “prenup”;
  2. During a marriage under a s 90C Agreement – this is typically exercised during the period between separation and divorce; or
  3. After divorce under a s 90D Agreement.

A BFA can be drafted with your family law lawyer to formalise a property settlement agreement between you and your former spouse. It is an alternative means to going to Court which can be timely and expensive. The Court does, however, have the power to set aside a BFA  in certain limited circumstances. [...]  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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Will Expected Inheritance Be Included in My Family Property Settlement Agreement?

An expected or future inheritance is an inheritance that one party is expecting to receive once the testator passes away. Will the Family Court take into consideration a future or expected inheritance in your divorce settlement? If you or your ex-spouse are anticipating an inheritance, say from an elderly parent, you may want to get some advice regarding how this may impact your property settlement agreement.

In the 1995 case of White & Tulloch the Court noted that the expectancy of inheritance will generally not amount to a financial resource to be considered in your property settlement agreement. The term financial resource involves some degree of “entitlement to, control over, or relative certainty of receipt of property”. On the other hand, a will has been described as a mere expression of intention at the time it was made. They may be revoked or altered and only have legal effect upon the death or the testator. In this case, the expected inheritance of an elderly parent was not included in the divorce settlement. [...]  READ MORE →

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The Bank of Mum and Dad – Gifts from your Parents and Property Settlement Agreements

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. [...]  READ MORE →

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Valuing the Family Home in Family Law Matters

Family Law Property Settlement

The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) gives the Family Court power to divide property in the event of separation and relationship breakdown. In doing so, the Family Court adheres to a four step process as follows:

  • Identify and value the property, liabilities and financial resources;
  • Assess the contributions;
  • Assess any relevant future needs; and
  • Consider the effect of those findings and determine what order would be just and equitable.

Valuation of Real Estate

Quite often your family or matrimonial home is your most significant asset. Accordingly, there is often some argument during step 1 over what value to assign the property. As a general rule property will be valued as at the time of the final hearing. The Court will value all properties currently owned by you and/or your former spouse. [...]  READ MORE →

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The Basics of What Your Exs Company is Worth: The Balance Sheet

One way to determine what you or your former spouse’s company is worth is to instruct your divorce lawyer to engage a single expert valuer to put a dollar figure to the value of the business. Your divorce lawyer will then instruct the valuer to analyse the company’s financial statements among other things to determine the value for the purpose of your family property proceedings.

A company’s financial statements are made up of the following:

  1. Balance Sheet
  2. Profit and Loss Statements (Or Income Statement)
  3. Cash Flow Statement

 

The Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is a snap shot of a company’s accounts. It provides at a glance what the company owns and is owed. It can give an indication of the financial position of the company at a single point in time. [...]  READ MORE →

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Property Pool under $500,000 – Resolving Your Family Property Dispute Quickly

On 7 February 2020 the Family Court published a Practice Direction on Case Management of property pools under $500,000, known as PPP500 cases. The purpose of the practice direction is to assist your divorce lawyer to help you achieve a just, efficient and timely resolution of your matter.

Who Does the PPP500 Direction Apply to?

The practice direction applies to family law applications for property settlements filed by your divorce lawyer in Brisbane, Parramatta, Adelaide and Melbourne registries of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. [...]  READ MORE →

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Can You DIY Your Prenup?

In an effort to save money on their property settlement, some couples have sought to DIY their prenup. But is it a good idea?

The Family Law Act states that for a prenup to be valid and enforceable, one requirement is that both parties need to obtain independent legal advice. This legal advice has three components:

  1. Firstly, the legal advice must be given before signing the agreement and must cover the effect of the agreement on the rights of that spouse and about the advantages and disadvantages of the agreement.
  2. Secondly, either before or after signing the agreement, each spouse must be provided with a signed statement by the legal practitioner stating that the advice was provided to that party.
  3. Thirdly, a copy of the statement must be provided to the other spouse or legal practitioner for the other party.

Take for instance the scenario of Mark and Sally. Mark and Sally would both like a prenup before they marry next year to protect their respective financial interests. According to Australian law, both Mark and Sally must seek separate legal advice. That is, two separate lawyers that are independent of each other need to be engaged in the process. Prior to signing the agreement, Lawyer A gives their advice to Mark, while Lawyer B gives their advice to Sally. Before or after signing the prenup, Mark’s lawyer needs to provide a signed statement that declares the said legal advice was given to Mark. Then, a copy of that statement needs to be given to Sally or her lawyer. Sally also needs to do the same. [...]  READ MORE →

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Separation Lawyer on Gaining Sole Use and Occupancy of the Family Holiday Home

The power of the Court to make an order for sole use and occupancy derives from s 114 of the Family Law Act. A separation lawyer can assist you to put forward or defend this application that would allow a party to live in the property to the exclusion of the other party.

In the case of Belcher & Gardener [2019] FamCA 205 (5 April 2019) the husband brought an application for sole use and occupancy for the holiday home (“the holiday house”) that was registered in the wife’s sole name.

The husband and wife were married for 24 years when they separated in July 2018. The parties had four children, two of whom remain living with the wife in the former matrimonial home. The husband vacated the former matrimonial home and was renting a one-bedroom apartment with his cousin. [...]  READ MORE →

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Reaching a Property Settlement Agreement through Family Law Arbitration

There are numerous methods aside from traditional Court determinations which parties can utilise when seeking to reach a property settlement agreement. Section 10L of the Family Law Act 1975 defines arbitration as “a process (other than the judicial process) in which parties to a dispute present arguments and evidence to an arbitrator, who makes a determination to resolve the dispute.”

How do Arbitrations operate?

Arbitrations are available for property and financial matters and are voluntary. A matter may also be referred by a court order. They can take place before, during or after proceedings have commenced. [...]  READ MORE →

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Collectables and your property settlement agreement

Whether you collect postage stamps, designer handbags, books, art or cars, don’t underestimate the value of your little hobby when it comes to a property settlement agreement.

In the recent case of Isaacson [2019], Judge Wilson considered a property settlement agreement dispute between a former husband and wife, as to the value of the husband’s book collection. The husband alleged the book collection to be worth $183,905.00 and the Wife believed it to be worth $384,421.00.

Both parties sought to rely on their own “expert” evidence as to the apparent value of the book collection.  This is where the case highlighted the importance of seeking legal advice when intending to use expert evidence to ascertain the value of collectables in a property settlement agreement. [...]  READ MORE →