What You Need to Know About BFA?

Most people would like to avoid having to get involved in lengthy and nasty court disputes if they are unfortunate enough to go through a divorce or separation. Binding Financial Agreement (BFA) is a way of achieving this.As most would have already known, BFA can be drawn up prior to, during or after a relationship/marriage.What Can a BFA Cover?A BFA can only cover financial matters. This means that it cannot cover parenting arrangements such as which parent a child lives with and/ or visitation rights as it will be void to the extent that they attempt to cover those sorts of matters. Child support payments and matters relating to the financial care of children also cannot be dealt with through a BFA.Further, a BFA cannot deal with any property or financial resources that are acquired after the relationship has ended but only to the property and resources owned at the date the agreement is made, or that is later acquired during the course of the relationship.Why Do You Need to Involve a Lawyer?BFAs are complex legal documents and must strictly comply with the legislation. They may also be overturned in the future if they are not prepared correctly.While you can draft your own agreement (which we generally do not recommend), each party will still need to engage their own lawyer to provide independent legal advice about the agreement and sign the lawyer’s certificate of advice. As such, it is often more efficient and cost-effective to get the lawyers involved at the outset.Circumstances in Which the Court Will Set Aside a BFAThe circumstances include:•if there has been a failure to disclose relevant matters (such as an asset, interest in a trust, or a real estate valuation);•if the performance of the agreement is impracticable as a result of circumstances that have arisen after the agreement was entered into;•if either party to the agreement engaged in unconscionable conduct in relation to the making of the agreement (which can include non-disclosure of assets);•if the agreement is uncertain or incomplete.Thus, if you are considering entering into a BFA, you should consult a family lawyer as to what should be included.If you would like to prepare a Binding Financial Agreement, Straits Lawyers are now offering online services in both English and Chinese.Simply purchase our online services via this link: https://straits-lawyers.square.site/product/binding-financial-agreement-consultation-bfa-/5?cs=trueAlternatively, you can email us at info@straitslawyers.com or call at 08 8410 9069 to find out more.Straits Lawyers engaging with our community.Please note that this article does not constitute legal advice and Straits Lawyers will not be legally responsible for any actions you take based on this article.