26th April 2014
DE FACTO RELATIONSHIPS AND PROPERTY Under Australian Law, separating de facto couples have largely the same rights and liabilities as those of married couples with regard to property settlements. De facto couples who want financial security can enter into a Binding Financial Agreement at any time during their relationship. Binding Financial Agreements are similar to pre-nuptial agreements, in that a couple can use them to set out how their property and other assets would be divided if they were to part ways. Couples can also use a Binding Financial Agreement to deal with issues such as spousal maintenance e.g. exempting each other from making a claim for maintenance, or specifying maintenance terms in the event of a separation.
Yarraville
104 Somerville Road 9316 9000
Williamstown 1/66 Douglas Parade (Corner Stevedore Street) 9393 1600 www.jasstephens.com.au
In the unfortunate event of a separation, couples have a time limit of two years from the date their relationship ending to make a property claim against a former de facto partner. Some exceptions apply, for example, where the couple has had a child together. It’s interesting to note that whether a couple lived together is only one factor that the court must consider in determining whether a de facto relationship existed and that the couple does not necessarily have to have been living together on a full time basis (or even a half time basis) for the court to consider them as being in a de facto relationship. The court need only consider whether the couple lived together as one of many factors that indicate the existence of a de facto relationship. If you are in any way unsure of the potential impact your relationship could have on your financial situation, we recommend that you seek appropriate legal advice. Craig J. Stephens Managing Director / Officer in Effective Control M 0418 547 938
As a service to our vendors, we will require names & phone numbers on entry of all inspections. Privacy Act 2000: We use personal information collected from you during open for inspections for security purposes. We may also use that information to contact you with respect to this property and others we believe may be of interest to you. Also, we may contact you in relation to other services provided by us or our associates such as insurance, mortgages and loans. By providing your information to us you agree to our use of it as described above unless you advise us differently. If the information is not provided we may not be able to provide an effective and comprehensive service to you. (Your personal information will be collected and held in accordance with provisions of the Information Privacy Act 2000). We have obtained all information in this document from sources we believe to be reliable, however, we cannot guarantee its accuracy. Prospective purchasers are advised to carry out their own investigations. We strongly recommend that you clearly register your interest with our representative at the open for inspection, so that in the event of a sale being imminent, your position is protected. We make every effort to contact all interested parties prior to a property being sold.
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