Why Insuring your Relationship is Just as Important as Insuring Your Car

You insure your house and its contents. You insure your car. Some of you insure your life so there will be money left to those you love when you die. So why wouldn’t you insure your relationship with your partner or spouse? You can do that via a Financial Agreement which allows you to specify that if you separate, then there won’t be a fight about how you split your assets. You may have heard a financial agreement described as a “prenuptial” agreement or a “prenup”.

 Making a Financial Agreement:

A Financial Agreement is a legally binding document designed to outline how to protect your assets and how your financial matters will be handled if your relationship ends. You can make a financial agreement:

 Before you marry;

While you are married;

After you divorce;

 And if you are not married or planning to marry, as a de facto couple you can still make a financial agreement.

 What Can a Financial Agreement Cover?

 In your financial agreement, you can set out how your property, super, money in the bank and wages, will be split on separation. You can also set out how you will conduct your finances during your relationship.  Some people set out how they plan to make their wills. Sometimes people want to protect the assets they brought into the relationship. Sometimes people want to protect a gift from their parents or an inheritance they expect to receive.

When to Raise the Topic of a Financial Agreement 

Sometimes people ask me – we are not married or in a committed relationship yet, so when should I raise that I want a financial agreement?  I always say – by the third date. Sometimes they respond, “That’s not very romantic.” I say in reply “No, it's not, but neither is having a fight when you separate and spending $5,000/$10,000 on lawyers or maybe $100,000 if you have to go to trial to settle your dispute about property settlement”.

So, if you agree it is time to insure your relationship, then contact us at Pippa Colman Family Law on 5458 9000 to talk to us about a financial agreement.