Family Law Financial Separation Agreement

[markw]

My ex and I have been through mediation and mutually agreed on a financial settlement and superannuation split. (I’ve got out with a lot less than I could have ended up with so definitely happy about it)

now her lawyers (she has legal aid) have drafted a separation agreement which I am happy about but my super company requires an Annexure signed by our lawyers stating we have obtained legal advice. Basically I have had advice from our general counsel at work and happy but In order to get this annexure I was going to have to get a lawyer but I’ve been quoted around 10 hours for them to look over it.

now long story short the general counsel at work is also a lawyer I’ve just found out so she said she will sign whatever needs signing. So I want to do the leg work for her. Is there any standard to this annexure - like a certificate or statement of independent legal advice that I can download? I can find them for loans etc but not a standard type one. I was even happy to sign a stat dec waiving my rights but they won’t allow that.

(We DO NOT want consent orders)

 

[Atticus]

now long story short the general counsel at work is also a lawyer I’ve just found out so she said she will sign whatever needs signing

In order for a financial agreement to be binding it has to meet several legislated criteria.... One of those is that a lawyer has to acknowledge in writing that they have advised you of the advantages & disadvantages of signing off on the terms of the agreement

To do that properly the lawyer would need to fully read the agreement & understand your financial & domestic arrangements, hence the time needed to properly do that.... If a lawyer were to 'just sign' an acknowledgment without doing what is required then the agreement may not be binding & is potentially open to challenge