Publications
Financial Agreements
Cross-border Family Law: Advising Clients when Other Jurisdictions are in Play
Today’s increasing globalisation means that the numbers of couples and families who are temporary or permanent residents, own property, have property interests and/or run businesses in other countries is on the rise. While Australian lawyers cannot (and should not) provide advice to their clients about their legal entitlements...
Financial Agreements – Back to Basics
This Webinar looks at the basics of drafting and advising on a financial agreement and minimising the risk of a financial agreement under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (FLA) being found not to be binding or being set aside. It covers: Ensuring compliance with the relevant sections of the FLA Subject matter When is an agreement...
Section 90B Binding Financial Agreements: Precision Drafting for Now and Into the Future
The reality is that, for some clients, happily ever after involves the parties eventually going their separate ways. When relationship breakdown occurs, how watertight is a financial agreement under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (FLA)? This paper takes a risk-averse approach to financial agreements, examining some of the...
Tips and Traps of Drafting Financial Agreements
This article covers the following traps, and tips on how to avoid them or minimise the risks: Changes in the law Contingencies – changes in the parties’ circumstances Changes in entities and business operations Dealing with superannuation Inequality in bargaining power Disclosure or lack of disclosure Quarantining assets...
Binding Financial Agreements: Drafting with the End in Mind
The reality is that, for some clients, happily ever after will involve the parties going their separate ways. When relationship breakdown occurs, how watertight is a financial agreement under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (FLA)? This paper looks at taking a risk averse approach to financial agreements, some of the risky...
Bamboozled and bewildered – duress, undue influence and financial agreements
Duress and undue influence are factors which may vitiate a contract. They often overlap and are frequently used interchangeably, or at least pleaded in the alternative. The decision of Thorne v Kennedy [2017] HCA 49; (2017) FLC 93-807 is the most recent High Court authority addressing these principles. The judgment was not...
The Truly Binding Finanical Agreement – Is concise drafting the key?
In a post Thorne v Kennedy [2017] HCA 49; (2017) FLC 93-807 landscape, it has never been more important to draft financial agreements with precision, fairness and full disclosure. This paper concentrates on the drafting essentials to minimise the risk of a financial agreement being found not to be binding or being set aside....
Gloomfield – why subject matter is so important in financial agreements
The subject matter of a financial agreement is important. The parties and their lawyers overlooked this fundamental and preliminary point in the long-running Bloomfield & Grainger litigation which commenced in 2014 and ended in 2018. There were many hearings at which no issue was taken as to whether or not the litigation...
5 top tips for preparing financial agreements after Thorne v Kennedy
If you think that the law relating to financial agreements changes faster than Australia changes Prime Ministers, you’re right. The High Court in Thorne v Kennedy (2017) FLC 93-807 added to the complexity. Here are the five top tips for preparing financial agreements in the wake of Thorne v Kennedy: 1. Be Willing to Negotiate...
Thorne v Kennedy—has the High Court hung financial agreements out to dry?
There has been a strong reaction, almost panic-stricken, in the media and by lawyers to the first examination of financial agreements by the High Court. Is this reaction justified? Has the High Court hung financial agreements out to dry, or are they still a viable option? In Thorne v Kennedy [2017] HCA 49; (2017) FLC 93-807...