Financial Agreements:During A Continuing De Facto Relationship.
The decision to live with a partner is often made with little thought to the rights that each person has with respect to assets, money and property. We all hope our relationships will last forever. However for those who have previously paid the financial and emotional costs associated with a divorce or separation, it is understandable that they may be concerned about the possibility of a new relationship failing.
Issues about property settlement might not concern a younger couple, but many older established couples who may have significant assets or children from an earlier relationship, may enter cohabitation a little more cautiously. One might say once bitten twice shy.
Whilst there are no figures on breakdowns of de facto relationships (hetero or same-sex), there is no reason to think that figures in those communities will differ from those for married couples. Overall, there’s a failure rate of around 48% for all relationship s, and second relationships have higher failure rates than first ones.
Until Recently you could choose to live with your partner and not be married which may provide benefits for some and disadvantages for others. Changes to the Family Law Act which came into effect on the 1st March 2009 allow de facto couples to make application to the Family court for orders in respect of the division of property and maintenance for couples in a de facto relationship.
This means that even though a couple may not be legally married there is no discernible difference in the rights of the couple under the law, in a relationship of sufficient duration or where children are involved. The new laws apply to both hetero and same sex couples alike.
The good news is, under section 90UC of the Act de facto couples can now make a financial agreement that will protect their assets and financial resources, in the same way married couples have been able to since 2000. By making an agreement now, you can quarantine certain assets from litigation, which can have a surprisingly positive effect on how secure one might feel in the relationship. Particularly if one partner has significant assets and the other does not.
Your financial agreement allows you to decide what you think would be a fair and equitable distribution of property in the event of separation instead of leaving it up to the courts. You can choose to deal with all of your financial interest now or you may choose to deal with a single asset like a family farm, a business or an inheritance.
Financial agreements can comfort and reassure people living in or entering into de facto relationships. They are recognised and enforceable under Part VIIIAB of the Family Law Act and can save you time, money and a lot of heartache.
Cohabitation agreement kits are available for immediate download only $129.95
These comprehensive Financial (Cohabitation) Agreement Kits have been drafted to comply with the relevent federal or state legislation. They give you all the guidance you need to create a legally binding, protective cohabitation agreement.
The kit includes
the Financial Agreement
- an easy-to-follow instruction manual
- sample agreement including several sample clauses to assist you in drafting your own professional agreement.
- plus Bonus Legal will Kit
Because Section 90G of the Family Law Act requires that each party to the agreement to receive independent legal advice before the agreement has any legal force, we have introduced our Agreement Review Service.
Cohabitation agreement kits are available for immediate download only $129.95
Also our Agreement Review Service is available as an option with this agreement.
