Financial Disclosure in Family Law

The Family Law Act provides that a separated couple must provide each other with all of their financial information, known as ‘financial disclosure’.

When a couple separates, both parties need to make decisions about their future without the other person in their life.

During the relationship, the couple will usually accumulate several assets and/or liabilities and need to decide who will get what.

If a couple is unable to come to an amicable agreement between them, they will usually work with a solicitor to help them work out their rights and entitlements when it comes to property settlement.

Financial Disclosure

Often parties do not want to disclose their financial information and will refuse to respond to requests by the other party or their solicitors. They might view the requests as overwhelming and just ignore them.

This ‘head in the sand’ approach may prove to be more costly than expected, particularly if the party requesting the documents commences proceedings in the Family Court.

This could mean significant costs in legal fees to each party and could also mean that the person who has not provided financial disclosure may be ordered to pay the other party’s costs as a consequence of failure to disclose.

If a party continues to refuse to provide financial disclosure after family law proceedings have been commenced, they may find that the Court may make presumptions about the values of assets and proceed on that basis.

This means that the Court may make orders that may seem unfair including:

the sale of assets including the family home,
shares in companies,
superannuation splitting orders,
and any other orders that may affect the financial situation of the parties.

If you have been asked to provide financial disclosure to your ex, it is in your best interests to do so.

Contact Us

For more information about financial disclosure in family law, contact us at Bambrick Legal today. We offer a free, no-obligation 15-min consultation for all enquiries.