You’ve worked hard to buy things together – a house, investments, a much-loved collection of furniture or a farm full of tools. Suddenly, these must be split up.
Looking after your personal financial future becomes a higher priority, which is hard to balance with your ex-partner’s needs. If you have children, you may hold different points of view what is best for them financially. Would they be better staying in the family home? Is that possible when housing costs are doubled?
As a financially literate mediator, I can deal with simple or complex financial arrangements. In either case, the reality is that one financial pie has to be split into two. Life as a single person can be much more financially challenging. The grief and anger at finding yourself in a financially precarious situation after a life of hard work can be immense.
Intepretations on what would be the fairest split differ widely between couples. The Family Law Act provides the ultimate benchmark around what is fair, with extensive legislation governing the appropriate division of assets. The Court looks at contributions, earning capacity and future needs among other factors to determine who will keep what.
Getting initial legal advice is the best way to find out who might be entitled to what if you end up in Court, but going to Court should be a last resort. Why waste tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars on lawyers when there is an alternative?
The first mediation sessions focus on identifying the asset pool and agreeing on what assets may be worth. Later meetings focus on negotiating an agreed division of those assets.
Agreements made at mediation can usually be quickly and affordably shaped by your lawyer of choice into property consent orders, and then lodged with the Family Court to have final effect. I uniquely transcribe property mediations in Microsoft Word and Excel, and print or email final agreements to help you save time and money.
