Fam­i­ly Law  Prop­er­ty settlements

Most cou­ples don’t realise that Prop­er­ty is every­thing that you own and includes the mat­ri­mo­ni­al home, invest­ment prop­er­ties, shares, super­an­nu­a­tion, bank accounts, motor vehi­cles, col­lec­tions, art­works and inter­ests in trusts and companies.

There is no exhaus­tive list as to what con­sti­tutes prop­er­ty and it does not mat­ter if there is only one name on title. While there is no set for­mu­la to divide prop­er­ty, there is guid­ance con­tained in the Fam­i­ly Law Act 1975 and the cas­es which have been decid­ed by the Courts.

Often the most dif­fi­cult part of any prop­er­ty mat­ter, is to deter­mine exact­ly what is to be includ­ed for divi­sion, the val­ue of the assets and in many cas­es to trace and dis­cov­er assets which have been hidden.

The fol­low­ing ques­tions are the most com­mon­ly asked when con­sid­er­ing a prop­er­ty settlement:

• Do I need to be divorced to get a prop­er­ty settlement?
• Do I share my gifts and inher­i­tance with my for­mer part­ner after the rela­tion­ship has bro­ken down?
• Will all my bonus­es and incen­tives be shared with my for­mer part­ner after the rela­tion­ship has bro­ken down?
• How do we divide the assets?
• What is an asset that can be divided?
• What if my part­ner has hid­den mon­ey and/​or assets?
• Who owns the embryo when there is a rela­tion­ship breakdown?
• Does it mat­ter if prop­er­ty or assets are owned by a trust or com­pa­ny for prop­er­ty division?
• My part­ner earns more than I do. Do they get more when the rela­tion­ship breaks down?
• Could gam­bling affect a prop­er­ty division?
• How do I split a business?
• What is the dif­fer­ence between final orders and a bind­ing finan­cial agreement?
• What is a prenup and do I need one?
• Can I over­turn a prenup­tial agree­ment or a bind­ing finan­cial agreement?
• Is our dog (or oth­er pets) property?

As Fam­i­ly Law Spe­cial­ists and Doyles recog­nised Fam­i­ly Lawyers, we pride our­selves on our abil­i­ty to help you through the most com­plex of sit­u­a­tions be it main­te­nance, chil­dren or prop­er­ty related.

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