Protecting the Asset Pool in Family Law Property Matters - recorded online conference

You can put your staff in the boardroom and watch it there. You can watch it on your computer or on your portable electronic device. All for the same low price.

The conference will be based on our highly successful video webinar technology: there’ll be a chairperson, a panel of experts, presentations and discussion.

Session 1: Ex Parte Applications and Injunctive Relief - Practical Precautions to Protect At Risk Property

Protecting at risk matrimonial property often requires quick thinking and careful planning. Family lawyers need to be strategic in utilising the range of legal protections available for at risk property in a property dispute. This session explores the options, including:

• Caveat over land – parameters in family law disputes

• Injunctions to protect property – when can they be used

• Property protection on an interim basis

• When will the Court exercise its discretion?

• Mareva Order – how do they work and when are they required?

• Anton Piller Orders – what are they and how are they used?

Session 2: When Three’s a Crowd: The Role of Third Parties in Property Matters

While a property matter typically involves two warring former spouses, there has been a steady increase in the number of third party applications in the Family Court. This session examines the rights and responsibilities of third parties joined to a proceeding, and how a family lawyer should best navigate the process when acting for a third party. It covers:

• Who can be a third party?
  • Family members or business associates with an interest in property subject to the proceedings
  • Trustees or appointors of a family trust
  • Directors and shareholders of a family company Trustee of super fund
  • Trustee in bankruptcy
• Parent loans versus gifts
• Why should a third party be joined to the proceeding?
• Third party disclosure obligations
• When can orders be made against the third party?
• What remedies are available?
• On what grounds can a third party resist orders being made affecting them?
• Strategies and procedural issues to consider when advising a third party:
  • Requesting particulars from the parties
  • Understanding the relevant grounds and remedies
  • What evidence is required to support your client’s position?
  • Payment of valuation and expert costs
  • The role of bifurcation applications

Session 3: Binding the Financial Agreement

In a post Thorne v Kennedy landscape, clients may be wondering whether a financial agreement can be truly binding. While a completely watertight financial agreement may be a pipe dream, there are things you can do to increase their effectiveness. This session examines the Court’s current approach with financial agreements and how you can draft a financial agreement that sticks. It covers:

• How to get it over the line - drafting strategies to prepare a common sense, financial agreement to protect and deliver certainty for your client
• What goes in and what stays out? The important question of disclosure, and when
• Defending a financial agreement:
  • What weapons are available when the threat of attack is pending?
• How have the lower courts applied the High Court’s reasoning in Thorne v Kennedy?
• Lessons from recent cases, including Jess Garvey [2018] FAMCAFC 44