Cohabitation & Binding Financial Agreements

When you make the decision to move in with your partner (known as cohabitation), it’s not just the nature of your relationship that changes. Your legal position in relation to each other changes too.

Whether you are married or in a de facto relationship – or if you’re simply considering either – it’s a good idea for both you and your partner to understand your legal rights and obligations to each other in the sad event that things go wrong in your relationship.

Binding Financial Agreements give you certainty

To protect your assets in the event of your relationship breaking down, you and your partner can enter into a Binding Financial Agreement (BFA). Also known as a pre-nuptial agreement or cohabitation agreement, a BFA is designed to protect the individual interests of each party to the agreement, setting out your legal rights and interests. The biggest advantage of having a BFA is that it provides a legally binding pathway if you separate.

To enter into a BFA, you and your partner must fully disclose all your assets, liabilities and business interests. Your assets can include your existing financial and property portfolios, inheritances, your superannuation, family businesses, and trusts.

The BFA will set out these assets and outline the associated protections, responsibilities and obligations which arise if you separate. For example, you and your partner may agree that if you separate, you’ll each retain inheritances or specific gifts from your respective families.

Talk to McCarthy Durie Lawyers about setting up a BFA

McCarthy Durie Lawyers can provide you with advice on how to best protect your assets with a Binding Financial Agreement prior to cohabitation, marriage, or starting a de facto relationship.

To ensure that your BFA remains strong, you and your partner should periodically review it as your circumstances change over time – for example when you get married, when children are born, or if the health of you or your partner deteriorates.

For more information on how a Binding Financial Agreement could help protect your assets, call the McCarthy Durie Lawyers team on 07 3233 9999.