NSW Do I Need a Lawyer for Property Settlement with Ex?

[Suzie Beel]

I have recently received interim orders for custody of children, allowing the children to legally live with me for 8 nights. My ex's lawyers have just issued me with a letter stating he wants property settlement as well, or he will take me to family court again.

I feel he is intimidating me and he never owned or contributed to any of the properties during the 4 years we were married. I do not have a lawyer now.

Do I need a lawyer or should I try and mediation through the ICL? He is not working and has $400,000 in cash but thinks I will be forced to pay him future needs.

 

[Dezzy]

Hi Suzie,

I've just recently settled with my ex. It was not a nice process which went on for 2 years.

My opinion would be to get a lawyer. It's nice to have the advice and to think they have your back, but you pay for it.

We went through the process and ended up settling through mediation rather than the court deciding for you.

 

[sammy01]

For property matters to be legally binding, both parties must have received independent legal advice. So yep, you're gonna need a solicitor at some point. How long did you live together?

This is what I would do. Write back to his solicitor. Suggest a property settlement where you get about 65% -70%. Ask for full financial disclosure from him and provide the same. Try and get to a point where his solicitor writes up property consent orders, then take them to a solicitor for advice.

That will cost you about $2000 and is cheaper than getting a solicitor to represent you throughout the whole process. If he doesn't agree to your proposal, invite him to take you to court or offer a solution that is mutually acceptable.

 

[AllForHer]

He took you to Court for the parenting matter, he will take you to Court for the property matter, and he is entitled to do so.

The Court won't agree he made no contributions to the properties you owned during your four years of marriage. If he worked, he made financial contributions. If he didn't work, he made non-financial contributions. A 'contribution' isn't just financial contribution, it can be anything - caring for the kids while you worked, renovating the property, cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, all of that counts.

Since Court will likely cost upwards of $10,000 each, you're better off keeping those funds in the asset pool and being reasonable about a property settlement instead of waiting for him to take you back to Court.