QLD Non-disclosure of Property in Binding Financial Agreement - Seek Mediation?

[nomadave]

Hi. Wife is not disclosing overseas property and her family law solicitor said they will seek final family court orders.

I am self-representing and their binding financial agreement is full of lies. Should I let it go and let the lies come out in court, or seek mediation? I wanted 3rd party mediation.

 

[Sarah J]

Hi Nomadave,

If you suspect your wife is keeping information from you, you can either hire an investigative officer or seek a court order (akin to an oral enquiry order) asking your wife to disclose certain information. You can also do this during discovery if you were to take her to court. If you choose mediation, the rules will be according to what the parties decide, so your best option would be to hire an investigations officer. Usually, a lawyer would do this.

 

[nomadave]

her lawyer just sent a Pre-action

Hi Nomadave,

If you suspect your wife is keeping information from you, you can either hire an investigative officer or seek a court order (akin to an oral enquiry order) asking your wife to disclose certain information. You can also do this during discovery if you were to take her to court. If you choose mediation, the rules will be according to what the parties decide, so your best option would be to hire an investigations officer. Usually, a lawyer would do this.

 

[nomadave]

Procedure letter with another offer that has not changed much . Essentially the same but just a little bit more disclosure. still far from full though. i know of the non-disclosed property and so do others. i offered mediation to her before she got a lawyer but she refused. now her lawyer has offered mediation which i will accept after the Xmas breAK .But if she doesn't disclose to the mediator, wouldn't it be useless

 

[Sarah J]

If she doesn't disclose to the mediator, you can question her about the properties, since you already know of them. Before you do, you should do a land title search and make sure she has an interest in the properties. Again, an investigative officer or a foreign lawyer practicing in that country should be able to track down these properties.

 

[Sarah J]

If you don't wish to do any of this, and the mediation fails and you proceed to court, she will then be bound to disclose such assets otherwise it may be misleading the court or contempt which has far greater consequences.

 

[nomadave]

Thanks for your help. I was thinking along the same lines. When it comes to filling out the financial statement and balance sheet for the conciliation conference it will make her look bad.can you bring up previous lies and statements

 

[Sarah J]

All the best with the mediation/proceedings. Hope she ends up disclosing the overseas assets.

 

[nomadave]

[QUOTE="Sarah J, post: 8481, member: 1227"result the best with the mediation/proceedings. Hope she ends up disclosing the overseas assets.[/QUOTE]
The mediation has been done with a better result for me. A lot more disclosure has been made which makes her and her lawyer look stupid. She wants to sell the house quickly but shouldn't I wait for the consent orders to made up before the property goes on the market?

 

[Sarah J]

Hi Nomandave,

If you may have an interest in the property but the existence and/or degree of your interest cannot be determined until an agreement or court order is made, you should place a caveat over the property. A caveat means that the property will be "frozen" and cannot be sold or disposed of without your consent. Further, you will be notified of any attempts, by anyone, to deal with the property. You can apply for a caveat by lodging an application with the QLD Titles Registry.

Here is some information on lodging caveats over property in QLD:

• QLD Government: Lodging Caveats
• Sample caveat application form for Queensland Titles Registry
• QLD Titles Registry: Titles registry forms