Our process in reviewing and advising on the Binding Financial Agreement includes:
1. Meeting you for an initial conference.
During this conference, we will explain Binding Financial Agreements in general, their advantages and disadvantages to you.
Depending on the extent of your Agreement, the lawyer may also briefly read the Agreement and give you some preliminary advice in relation to the Agreement and any amendments that may be required.
If you are happy to proceed and for us to represent you in this matter, we will request that you retain our services at this stage.
2. Read the Binding Financial Order in depth.
Once you have retained our services, we will then read the Binding Financial Agreement in depth and provide comprehensive advice in relation to the effect of the Agreement and the advantages and disadvantages.
During this time, we will also provide you with comprehensive advice in relation to any amendments to the Agreement that may be required or recommended.
If you are happy with this and request these amendments, we will write to your former partner’s lawyer in relation to this and proposing any amendments.
3. Negotiations on terms of the Agreement
At this stage, we may need to engage in negotiations to finalise the terms of the Agreement.
4. A written letter of advice.
Once the Agreement is finalised and you are happy with the provisions, we will provide you with our written letter of advice which in essence will summarise our previous advice to you in relation to the effect of the Agreement and the advantages and disadvantages of the Agreement.
5. Sign the agreement & certificate.
If you are happy to proceed we will then schedule an appointment with you to sign the Agreement. We will also sign a certificate to certify that we have provided you with independent legal advice at this time, which is required to ensure that the Agreement is binding.
This weeks, Ask A Family Lawyer, was delivered by Aboorva Sundar one of our Family Lawyers based mainly in our Parramatta, Sydney office.