There are only 2 ways your property settlement agreement can be documented so it is legally binding and recognised at law. Only after considering your own personal circumstances, can a lawyer advise you of the advantages and disadvantages to you of documenting your property settlement agreement using either consent orders or a binding financial agreement.
Differences between consent orders and a binding financial agreement include:
Consent orders must be made by the Family Court. The court will only make the consent orders you have agreed on if the court thinks they are “fair and reasonable”
The terms of a Binding Financial Agreement need not be fair
There is not independent scrutiny given to a Binding Financial Agreement by a court or any other body, nor are its terms reviewed by a court or any other body
Consent Order is filed in the Family Court
A Binding Financial Agreement is not lodged or registered anywhere
You can use consent orders to document your parenting and property settlement agreement in the same document however you cannot document your parenting agreement in a Binding Financial Agreement
To enter a Binding Financial Agreement, both spouses must each have their own lawyer give them independent legal advice and sign a Certificate of having done so
Sometimes a Binding Financial Agreement is the better option to extinguish spousal maintenance rights.
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