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Case Study: Tale of Two Agreements – Separation and Prenup

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Chris and his fiancé are getting married. This is the story he sent us via email on the 10th September 2019

This is the second time I have used RP Emery’s services. The first time was in early 2011 when I was in the process of breaking up with my first wife. We paid for, and downloaded a Pro-forma Separation Agreement (Binding Financial Agreement), and had little difficulty in agreeing to the terms on which we wanted to separate.

There was no dispute in relation to our children, so we were also in agreement with an arrangement of Joint Parental Custody for our two children, then aged 5 and 9.

At this time my ex-wife’s mother became involved, who insisted our matter could only be handled through the court system and that we must work through her Sydney family solicitor.

I was living overseas at the time when I received an officious letter from the family solicitor, demanding I put her in touch with my attorney.
I did not have an attorney but was able to make arrangements with a solicitor who had done some work for a colleague’s children who were living in Sydney.

With constant pressure on my ex-wife, we were left with no alternative but to communicate with each other through the legal channels provided through our respective solicitor’s. Needless to say, this slowed the Agreement process immensely, and of course, the whole process became very frustrating and added an intensified level of distrust, which had been absent previously.

Eventually, 5 months later, we managed to formulate a Binding Financial Agreement acceptable to both my ex-wife and myself (her mother would still have preferred a court hearing).

The Agreement drafted by the lawyers engaged by myself and my ex-wife essentially mirrored the RP Emery Pro-forma; my legal bills amounted to some A$13,000 and I understand my ex-wife’s bills were above $18,000 on account of the many phone calls and interactions between my ex-mother in law and the family lawyer.

The final split of resources was precisely as we had agreed earlier in the year.

So, I become a return customer to RP Emery, but this time for a Binding Financial Agreement before my fiancé and I marry. In this instance, we are very much in agreement as to what we want… and with no one to interfere, neither of us want to pay a lawyer to draw up a draft agreement from scratch when with minor changes the RP Emery document serves our needs exactly..!

Many thanks for the service.

Click here for more Information on Separation Agreements for Married Couples

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Important – Required Legal Advice

Financial Agreements only become Legally Binding when each party has received Certified Independent Legal Advice - Click Here for More Information