Prenuptial Agreements are referred to as Before Marriage, Binding Financial Agreements under Australian Family Law.
These documents follow the same formality associated with other types of Binding Financial Agreements, including those entered upon the breakdown of a marriage or de facto relationship.
Whilst similar in structure and formality, the documents differ in terms of their content and what they achieve.
A Binding Financial Agreement entered after a relationship breakdown usually divides assets between the parties in existence at the time of entering the Agreement.
A prenuptial style Agreement on the other hand, sets out a mechanism by which assets may be protected from claim by the other party in the event the relationship breaks down at a later date. The protected assets can also include future inheritances one party might receive.
Likewise, a prenuptial agreement can protect assets to be gifted by one party under their Will from claim by their spouse against their Estate. This allows parties to a new relationship or marriage that have children born to a previous relationship to protect their children’s inheritance from a claim by their spouse. This is done by using the prenuptial agreement as a means to exclude assets from any later claim by the spouse, freeing up that person to gift those excluded assets in their Will as they see fit, with the prenuptial agreement able to be used to counter any claim against an Estate or the challenge of a Will that is said not to provide sufficiently for the spouse.
We are able to assist you in drafting your prenuptial agreement on the gold coast and beyond or alternatively advise you in relation to one prepared by another lawyer.