Financial Matters

“The sooner financial matters are settled, the sooner you can get on with living your new life.”  – Nicole Le Pou, Family Lawyer.

Division of assets following separation

One of the most stressful aspects of any separation or divorce is the division of property and the sorting out of family financial arrangements. This will take some time and patience, but we aim to the make the process as pain-free and clear-cut as possible to help you avoid long drawn-out and expensive legal complications.

A financial settlement with your former partner may need to cover a vast range of shared financial interests such as:

• The family home or investment properties;
• Shares, stocks and other investment;
• Trusts, partnerships and companies;
• Family businesses including agricultural enterprises; and
• Superannuation or self-managed super funds (SMSFs).

The process will involve a detailed examination of what each of you brought into the relationship and both your, and your partner’s, financial and non-financial contributions during the relationship. Other factors will also be taken into consideration such as the income and financial resources of each party, the financial commitments, future needs and age and state of health of each party, to name a few.  

When we meet with you we will explain how an agreement relating to the division of your assets can be formalised and what options you have to reach agreement, these can include direct negotiations between you and your partner, lawyer assisted negotiation, mediation, arbitration or court proceedings. Mediation is a form of negotiation that we regularly recommend to our clients, this is usually cheaper than lawyer assisted negotiation and more time effective. We have many mediators that we can refer you to, when we meet, if mediation is the right path for you, we will provide you with details of mediators to consider.