Are you living with your partner (or contemplating it) and already have hard-earned assets that you’d prefer not to lose if you break up? Then it’s worth exploring a Binding Financial Agreement (BFA), which is the Australian legal term for ‘pre-nups’.
As family lawyer, Malcolm Gittoes-Caesar said on this episode of SBS Insight ‘We all become very different people when we separate.’ So relying on the love and trust you feel now may be folly.
This episode ‘To Have and Withhold’ was a fascinating discussion of Binding Financial Agreements, which is well worth watching to discover a breadth of perspective from lawyers and couples alike.
Whether you ultimately decide to have a BFA or not I recommend you at least have a discussion with your partner about each of your expectations of how your assets will be split if the relationship ends.
And then just like insurance, I hope you never ever need to use your BFA.