Pre Nuptual Agreements

Pre nuptial agreements are agreements made between parties prior to their marriage. Post Nuptial Agreements are made between parties after their marriage. Both types of agreement are formally known as Binding Financial Agreements.

A Binding Financial Agreement is a written agreement between a husband and wife as to how they propose to deal with financial matters both during the marriage and in the event of separation.

The Family Law Act allows for Binding Financial Agreements prior to marriage (Section 90B below) after marriage (Section 90C) and even after separation (Section 90D).

There are many situations where such Agreements may be appropriate such as:-

• If you are a business owner and want to maintain control of that business in the event of separation;
• You have significant assets;
• You have considerably more assets than your partner;
• You have children from a previous marriage and you want to be sure that the family wealth passes to them;
• You have a family member who has special needs, i.e. disabled child;
• You want certainty in respect of your financial position in the event of separation;
• You are concerned about a significant debt that one of you is bringing to the marriage.