A prenuptial, a premarital agreement, prenup, pre-nup or post-nup is a contract recognised in Australia by the Family Law Act 1975 that you and your partner enter into.

Whether it is a marriage or a de facto relationship, binding financial agreements can be made before, during or after the relationship.

Its an act of kindness and love that you plan for the worst. You only activate the pre nup if you do break up and it minimises emotional and legal costs in the future.

Pre-nuptial agreements are the most common, as the name suggests, this document is drawn up before a couple is married. This document takes into account the couple’s individual assets and incomes. It then gives guidance on how to divide the assets in case of a divorce. It also takes into account any potential or future increases in one party’s assets or income. This is especially helpful for protecting a spouse’s retirement income.

Firstly, two different roles.

1. One lawyer drafts the BFA= More Expensive
2. The other lawyer reviews or amends the BFA= Less Expensive

How much to draft?

To draft and certify a BFA (more work than to review) should be typically be around $2,000 to $4,000+ plus GST. The final cost will depend on the number of amendments that are made with the your partner’s lawyer. If it is a simple BFA and pre-agreed in principle, the costs are typically within the range of the estimates above.

How much to review?

Typically, based on time cost and amendments proposed.

From $500 to $2,000 + GST depending on complexity

Why The Price Differences?

Most family lawyers struggle with financial matters in fact most lawyers struggle with financial matters unless they have specialised in this area.

Why Do You (Goldman Law) Charge More?

We draft the BFA specifically to your needs and consider all the options that may be relevant in the future. For example future liabilities? How are they to be dealt with was to mark most clauses we have seen BFA’s do not addict cover this area and this leads to parties going to court having disputes. Why bother with ineffective BFA in the first place.

The BFA can have taxation, business and estate planning impacts? Look at our checklist? Most family lawyers would have no idea about trusts or estate planning let alone taxation or asset protection.

No. Its Not Cheaper. We Draft Specific BFA’s To Fit Your Needs. Please don’t waste your money.

Call us and we can send you a template then we reduce our fees if you complete it all!

Yes. You cannot both use the same lawyer because the essence of the BFA is that each party is independently advised. You should not even suggest or put pressure on your spouse to use another lawyer that you know. Can be a ground for a challenge and in fact we have and run many court cases with this has been a factor in challenging a BFA.

The BFA is restricted to financial matters between the spouses and no other parties.

Child Support & Other Factors

• When entering a binding financial agreement, it is important to consider all future possibilities. This includes children. Even if you are not sure whether you and your partner want children, it is important to include details regarding child support and maintenance.
• If you do have children in the future, and this wasn’t mentioned in the prenuptial agreement, then any understanding is not legally binding.
• Under Section 90A of The Family Law Act (1975), prenuptial agreements can only provide for child support if the child has been born and can be named. The exact amount of maintenance will need to be included in the agreement.
• Keep in mind that the terms of the prenuptial marriage contract can be overridden by the Court if it is deemed to not be in the best interest of the child.

Wills Contemplating Marriage/De-Facto?

• Lastly, there are other matters that need consideration before marriage.
• A will that is made before marriage is usually revoked when the marriage occurs, unless the Will is made in contemplation of marriage.
• It is also important to look at the way in which an asset is legally owned so as to meet all your needs after death such as testamentary and inter vivos trusts, gifts and binding death nominations of certain insurances and funds.

Prenuptial Checklist - What it Can Cover!

• You don’t want the division of your property and assets decided by the courts
• You want to avoid the emotional turmoil of a divorce
• You want to keep pre-marital assets separate
• A safeguard and financial protection for both parties
• The other party has debt that you are concerned by
• One party owns a business
• One party is from a wealthy family and wants to protect a potential inheritance
• Parties who already have children from a previous relationship
• Spousal support
• Cash
• Real estate
• Superannuation & pension entitlements
• Joint investments
• Joint businesses
• All future aspects such as children and future asset purchases

• Typically family lawyers are not lawyers that are at all versed in commercial, tax, finance or asset protection to name a few areas. Goldman lawyers specialise in all those financial aspects and have done is over 30 years.
• Typically, most lawyers do not know how to draft standard precedents for BFA is and then don’t know how to tailor them.
• Typically, most lawyers don’t also understand the certificate that they have to provide to the client.
• And finally, typically most cannot justify expensive charges for learning things they do not know and can’t sleep at nights of the risks that they have borne for very little money.
• Typically most lawyers will tell you – let’s go to court do consent orders. Then the pressure is off the lawyer.
• We can do the same however there are very important differences between the BFA and consent orders.
• That’s why we make no apologies for charging more! But doing the BFA is absolutely correctly and properly and making them part of a holistic plan for our clients is what we do!

The BFA is a remarkable instrument that allows to parties to agree whatever they wish to agree. This is subject to the essential criterion that the other party was not forced, there was no duress, and the other party had time to obtain appropriate legal advice and understood it.

Subject to those restrictions the two parties may agree whatever they like! If Jeff Bezos had entered into a valid BFA that he could have paid for example $1 billion instead of $50 billion to his spouse.

Typically, wealthy and successful individuals or people that have multiple marriages are blended families need to pay the money to get a proper BFA so they can take advantage of agreeing with their spouse whatever they wish to agree.

This does not happen when you go to court and does not happen with consent orders. These orders are made in accordance with what is fair and equitable and an ill founded view of how to split assets within the family legal system which is not built nor designed and its core to understand financial matters. Why would you take that risk?

For example, many studies have shown that women overwhelmingly contribute more in terms of their home as non-financial contributions. The ratio is somewhere between 70% for women and 30% for men? This is never properly quantified if you go to court. Whilst the principles are there that you look at non-financial and financial contributions if you go to court, the quantification methodology is simply not there!

Why risk handling family law matters with family lawyers and a family legal system that has no real idea about financial matters?