Legal Insights
Family Court rules on 'special contributions to a relationship'
In a recent appeal to the Family Court, it was determined that there is no binding rule for determining “special contributions” to a relationship. The Court decided that a wealthy couple should share their assets equally, despite the husband claiming that his special skills meant that he should have 70% of the assets.
The importance of documenting gifts and loans to family members
Parents frequently provide their children with financial assistance to purchase a home or an investment property. Financial assistance provided by a parent to a child will be considered a loan or a gift for family law purposes.
New Twist To Bringing Family Property Proceedings
In a recent case, the Plaintiff Donna Nolan separated from her husband and brought proceedings in the Supreme Court of Queensland separate to her proceedings in the Family Court.
Transfers of cash and money from private companies in family law settlements
On 30 July 2014 the Australian Taxation Office issued Taxation Ruling TR 2014/5 (previously released in draft form as TR 2013/D6) addressing the taxation effect of an order by the Family Court under section 79 of the Family Law Act 1975 for a private company to pay money or transfer property to a shareholder or their associate.
Binding Financial Agreements
Binding Financial Agreements (or BFA’s) are intended to provide married and de facto couples with the power to avoid Court and divide their assets as they deem fit.
A BFA is a written document, prepared by lawyers, which regulates the financial matters between married or de facto couples. If both parties agree to the terms of the BFA, and it is drafted and signed off properly, it has the power to override the jurisdiction of the Family Court.