Fall In Love With Your Eyes Wide Open

Fall In Love With Your Eyes Wide Open

Pre-Nups for Married and De Facto Couples

You have met your soul mate, you are in love and you have planned to live and die for each other for ever more. This is wonderful if this is the case. There is no reason why you should not have a valuable instrument that will protect you and your children’s assets if you both fall out of love and your relationship takes a side road from the path of happily ever after!

A prenuptial agreement (pre-nup), also known as a binding financial agreement (BFA), is a legally binding financial agreement between two people who are planning to live together either as a married couple or in a de facto relationship. The agreement covers what will happen in the event that the relationship breaks down through divorce or separation, in regard to the couple’s finances and property and how they will be divided.

A BFA may be desirable in a range of circumstances, including where:

• it is your second marriage and you have assets  from your first marriage that you want to keep to pass onto your children
• it is a de facto relationship and one party is moving into the other party’s property
• one party has much more property than the other when the relationship begins
• you want to avoid any hostility or uncertainty if the relationship does fail, and keep the matter out of court, or
• you want to protect a future inheritance or a family business.

A BFA can protect cash, real estate, superannuation, investments, businesses, inheritances and pension entitlements, as well as outline any obligation to finalise debts and liabilities of the relationship.

For a BFA to be legally binding it has to meet strict criteria, otherwise it can be overturned by the Family Court.

Due to the evolving nature of relationships it is important that all future aspects such as children and future asset purchases are considered. The agreement must also include the parties having received independent legal advice. This must contain a statement from a legal practitioner as to the effect of the agreement on the rights of the party, the advantages and disadvantages to the party making the agreement, whether or not it was necessary for the party to make the agreement, and whether the provisions in the agreement are just and equitable.

We at TBA Law are experienced in matters of binding financial arrangements and should you have any queries and need representation, we encourage you to make an appointment to protect your happily ever after.