Hi All,
Me and the wife have been married for over 10 years. It is looking like we are going to separate. I have a house overseas I’ve had for 25 years and (which means had 15 years prior to marrying her) that she has not contributed to. I have a BFA in place to protect this asset. The BFA essentially says everything we have will be split 50/50 except the house overseas – so it is effectively out of the asset pool. We have 8-year-old son which is also disclosed in the BFA.
When talking to her about separating she is claiming she will not challenge the BFA or play any games. Without going into detail, I cannot take her word for it as she has been very deceitful in the past and has broken my trust many times (one of the reasons we are separating). I told my lawyers about us likely separating (the same ones who did the BFA) and they have advised that I need to do a “division of assets” and ANOTHER more updated BFA. From my own research I don’t think I need another BFA because nothing has changed and it is still very recent. I am unsure if he is just trying to get some more money out of me. My understanding is that if it is binding and no “material changes” have happened then the existing one is fine. For the record, I REALLY researched this at the time, and I know what constitutes to a material change – we have had no additional kids, no new assets, no health changes and no change of wages. Therefore, there is nothing to update in the BFA so I’d imagine another one isn’t required?
Then there is the division of assets. I can’t find a definitive answer. When you hear the phrase “settle of court” we usually mean not going to court, but do you still have to sign some legal paperwork for the property settlement? The lawyer is telling me that the property settlement HAS to be done by lawyer. I would have thought that if it is amicable and there is no disagreement then you can just settle without lawyers and do it at a court. What I am getting at here is if we are amicable what is the solution that is least costly to me but still legally binding? I am having to explore this because my wife is insisting none of this is necessary and we don’t even have to sign anything. This doesn’t seem right to me, and I am very suspicious of it, I think she is just trying to wait out the BFA and challenge maybe a year down the line.
So, to summarise my questions one last time:
Is another BFA required?
How do we property settle, can we do it without even signing anything, so just verbally so to speak?
If we must sign paperwork, can we do this at a court ourselves without involving lawyers and what is the process? Or do the lawyers genuinely need to prepare a “division of assets”?
Thanks
Me and the wife have been married for over 10 years. It is looking like we are going to separate. I have a house overseas I’ve had for 25 years and (which means had 15 years prior to marrying her) that she has not contributed to. I have a BFA in place to protect this asset. The BFA essentially says everything we have will be split 50/50 except the house overseas – so it is effectively out of the asset pool. We have 8-year-old son which is also disclosed in the BFA.
When talking to her about separating she is claiming she will not challenge the BFA or play any games. Without going into detail, I cannot take her word for it as she has been very deceitful in the past and has broken my trust many times (one of the reasons we are separating). I told my lawyers about us likely separating (the same ones who did the BFA) and they have advised that I need to do a “division of assets” and ANOTHER more updated BFA. From my own research I don’t think I need another BFA because nothing has changed and it is still very recent. I am unsure if he is just trying to get some more money out of me. My understanding is that if it is binding and no “material changes” have happened then the existing one is fine. For the record, I REALLY researched this at the time, and I know what constitutes to a material change – we have had no additional kids, no new assets, no health changes and no change of wages. Therefore, there is nothing to update in the BFA so I’d imagine another one isn’t required?
Then there is the division of assets. I can’t find a definitive answer. When you hear the phrase “settle of court” we usually mean not going to court, but do you still have to sign some legal paperwork for the property settlement? The lawyer is telling me that the property settlement HAS to be done by lawyer. I would have thought that if it is amicable and there is no disagreement then you can just settle without lawyers and do it at a court. What I am getting at here is if we are amicable what is the solution that is least costly to me but still legally binding? I am having to explore this because my wife is insisting none of this is necessary and we don’t even have to sign anything. This doesn’t seem right to me, and I am very suspicious of it, I think she is just trying to wait out the BFA and challenge maybe a year down the line.
So, to summarise my questions one last time:
Is another BFA required?
How do we property settle, can we do it without even signing anything, so just verbally so to speak?
If we must sign paperwork, can we do this at a court ourselves without involving lawyers and what is the process? Or do the lawyers genuinely need to prepare a “division of assets”?
Thanks
