Financial Agreement | Consent Order

The family law legislation offers for parties to a marriage or de facto relationship to enter into a mandatory legal agreement concerning the financial arrangements should their marriage or de facto relationship break down. ‘Financial agreements’ is also commonly known as ‘prenuptial agreements.

There are many benefits of having a financial agreement. In addition to being a cheaper and time efficient alternative to court orders, it also provides a greater certainty as to the division of the property, thereby providing peace of mind.

A financial agreement can be made before marriage or the commencement of a de facto relationship or during marriage or de facto relationship.

For a financial agreement to be lawfully mandatory, you must both have:

• signed the agreement and
• obtained impartial legal and financial assistance prior to signing.

A Court can announce the agreement invalid and set it apart. The circumstances in which that is feasible are provided at Section 90K (married couples) and Section 90UM (de facto couples) of the Family Law Act 1975. Financial agreements are intended to be final, but in some instances, you may be capable to ask the court to think about a request to terminate or alter a financial agreement, involving where:

• your consent was obtained by fraud or under duress.
• The agreement was joined into to attempt to defraud or deceive someone, as well as a creditor.
• The agreement covers a superannuation payment that cannot be split up.
• while the agreement conditions have changed significantly since and it is no longer feasible (not just inconvenient) to carry it out
• There is a main change in events regarding the children’s care and welfare.
• Other person acted in a way that is unacceptable (unethical or unfair)

A consent order is an agreement that is approved by a court. By signing consent orders parties agree that they will abide by the terms in the order.

Consent orders about property might deal with transfer or sale of property, superannuation, child protection and spousal maintenance. The orders sought regarding children, property, spouse, de facto partner, or child maintenance will depend on the conditions of the family.

You and your former partner can apply for consent orders to be made in the court without physically going to court.