Increasingly, we are seeing clients wishing to maintain their own financial independence and security when embarking on a new relationship, or moving into the next phase of a current relationship. Ultimately, couples are looking to bed down what will happen to their finances should they separate in future.
If you are in this position, we can assist you in putting in place a formal agreement that can be relied upon down the track, thereby providing you a level of comfort that you have minimised the possibility of an expensive Court battle, and the associated emotional strain, in the event of a separation.
We can draft a financial agreement for you if you are, for example: planning to get married (a pre-nuptial agreement) entering a de facto relationship already married or in a de facto relationship, and wish to agree now on what will happens to your respective financial circumstances should you separate in the future.
Financial agreements can be useful if:
You wish to quarantine/protect an inheritance or gift from a family member from any future claim by a partner.
Wish to quarantine/protect an interest in a family business from any future claim by a partner.
There are significant differences between what you and your partner are each bringing or have brought to the relationship.
You have been married before and have children to that previous relationship for whom you need to protect future inheritances.
Financial agreements are complicated documents that require careful consideration and drafting, sometimes in parallel with advice from commercial lawyers, succession lawyers, and taxation and financial specialists.
Each party must receive their own independent legal advice prior to entering into a financial agreement.