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Relationship Property Agreement

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1

Daughter has bought a house, and has completed her side through her lawyer. Is there a way her partner can also protect himself without the $800-$1300 expense, so they can get this completed.
For example, is a written agreement signed by them both and JP witnessed sufficient? Thanks for any advice.

caeli - 2021-02-02 15:55:00
2
caeli wrote:

Daughter has bought a house, and has completed her side through her lawyer. Is there a way her partner can also protect himself without the $800-$1300 expense, so they can get this completed.
For example, is a written agreement signed by them both and JP witnessed sufficient? Thanks for any advice.

Let me get this right. Your daughter has purchased a property and wants to protect her partner by skimping on a few dollars?

Aside from wondering why her principal concern isn't protecting her own interests have you considered what could possibly go wrong with that hare-brained scheme? Your daughter's lawyer would have explained everything that has to happen.

Edited by johnston at 5:55 pm, Tue 2 Feb

johnston - 2021-02-02 17:53:00
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No, the other person needs to get independant legal advice otherwise the agreement could be challenged.
Dot your Is and cross your Ts, make sure it is right or dont bother.

vivac - 2021-02-02 18:19:00
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Been there, done that. We both needed independent legal advice with contracts each drawn up by our own independent lawyers. We actually opted OUT of the Relationship Property Agreement. This is the only legal way to do it.

hazelnut2 - 2021-02-02 18:32:00
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vivac wrote:

No, the other person needs to get independant legal advice otherwise the agreement could be challenged.
Dot your Is and cross your Ts, make sure it is right or dont bother.

The daughter and her partner would know this from her lawyer. If I was cynical I would say it's a ploy by the partner to invalidate the Agreement and now be abetted by the op.

johnston - 2021-02-02 18:33:00
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hazelnut2 wrote:

We both needed independent legal advice with contracts each drawn up by our own independent lawyers.

Really? You had two contracts?

johnston - 2021-02-02 18:35:00
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vivac wrote:

No, the other person needs to get independant legal advice otherwise the agreement could be challenged.
Dot your Is and cross your Ts, make sure it is right or dont bother.

Thank you. This is what we suspected. Daughter has completed her contract with her lawyer, so she'll now ensure partner finds another independent one and does his. Thanks for your answer.

caeli - 2021-02-02 19:50:00
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caeli wrote:

Thank you. This is what we suspected. Daughter has completed her contract with her lawyer, so she'll now ensure partner finds another independent one and does his. Thanks for your answer.

You don't have two agreements. That would be a nonsense. Are you sure you even know the agreement required? You need a contracting out agreement unless the relationship is ending.

johnston - 2021-02-02 20:00:00
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johnston wrote:

You don't have two agreements. That would be a nonsense. Are you sure you even know the agreement required? You need a contracting out agreement unless the relationship is ending.

she means his copy, but we all know its a S21 and there's two siging copies and it costs anything up to $5k signed off depending on whats being protected, but hey I'm not going to pay that to protect my millions of assets, I will just get a mate to witness my signature, blah, blah, blah.

gabbysnana - 2021-02-02 22:10:00
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gabbysnana wrote:

she means his copy, but we all know its a S21 and there's two siging copies and it costs anything up to $5k signed off depending on whats being protected, but hey I'm not going to pay that to protect my millions of assets, I will just get a mate to witness my signature, blah, blah, blah.

The op should butt out before she causes serious financial harm to her daughter.

johnston - 2021-02-02 22:17:00
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If the partner is just bringing himself to the purchase ie not contributing to the deposit then it is urgent (for the daughter) to get a proper agreement drawn up. If he has contributed then have they decided to have the title in shares or jointly.

Essential to get good advice and take it, as much more than $800-$1300 would be at stake if should the relationship end after 3 years and he is able to put his hand up for half shares.

Daughter should get some financial advice about how day to day house outgoings are structured as well. If she is the one with the mortgage then the payments should come out of her own account and there should be no mingling with his accounts or money. Unless she wants this to happen....

If he has not contributed to the deposit and the mortgage repayments don't anticipate a contribution from him then I would much rather have an arrangement as flatmates to begin with.

It seems pretty fraught/undesirable if she has purchased and will be paying the mortgage for him to have any involvement other than a Relationship Agreement setting out how the purchase took place and what happens if they split.

Edited by shanreagh at 10:32 pm, Tue 2 Feb

shanreagh - 2021-02-02 22:30:00
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gabbysnana wrote:

she means his copy, but we all know its a S21 and there's two siging copies and it costs anything up to $5k signed off depending on whats being protected, but hey I'm not going to pay that to protect my millions of assets, I will just get a mate to witness my signature, blah, blah, blah.

Thank you. Yes two copies, that's what I meant, and what is happening now.

caeli - 2021-02-03 08:33:00
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johnston wrote:

The op should butt out before she causes serious financial harm to her daughter.

Seriously, no nastiness or ill-intent on my part - far from it. Quite clearly it was a dumb idea, I was simply looking for a way to save him time and money, but certainly don't want to disadvantage either of them.

caeli - 2021-02-03 08:39:00
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shanreagh wrote:

If the partner is just bringing himself to the purchase ie not contributing to the deposit then it is urgent (for the daughter) to get a proper agreement drawn up. If he has contributed then have they decided to have the title in shares or jointly.

Essential to get good advice and take it, as much more than $800-$1300 would be at stake if should the relationship end after 3 years and he is able to put his hand up for half shares.

Daughter should get some financial advice about how day to day house outgoings are structured as well. If she is the one with the mortgage then the payments should come out of her own account and there should be no mingling with his accounts or money. Unless she wants this to happen....

If he has not contributed to the deposit and the mortgage repayments don't anticipate a contribution from him then I would much rather have an arrangement as flatmates to begin with.

It seems pretty fraught/undesirable if she has purchased and will be paying the mortgage for him to have any involvement other than a Relationship Agreement setting out how the purchase took place and what happens if they split.

Thank you, i appreciate you post, lots of great points. Thank you.

caeli - 2021-02-03 08:40:00
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caeli wrote:

Thank you, i appreciate you post, lots of great points. Thank you.

The bottom line for me is that the Agreement and legal and financial steps now should be predicated on the basis that the couple will split. If you look at it that way then it becomes easier to ensure that your daughter's interests are protected in advance.

It has been my personal experience (unfortunately) that notwithstanding how a partner seems when the two are together that the first things to go out the door should a relationship break down are trust and goodwill. In the throes of a split or new relationship the previous partner will often behave in ways to ensure that the new nest is well provided for.

'If it is not written down it doesn't exist' is a good motto to cover this.

Obviously the partner should approach it in this way also.

This means that any agreement is far, far from being a cut and paste and signing in front of the JP.

Edited by shanreagh at 9:03 am, Wed 3 Feb

shanreagh - 2021-02-03 09:00:00
16

Thank you shanreagh..(sadly) a very sensible way to look at things. Much appreciated.
I'm now actually really embarrassed about asking the question. *smacks head*

Edited by caeli at 9:14 am, Wed 3 Feb

caeli - 2021-02-03 09:12:00
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Wouldn't worry. Only the male gets screwed over. It's all about fairness apparently.

pcle - 2021-02-03 09:14:00
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caeli wrote:

Seriously, no nastiness or ill-intent on my part - far from it. Quite clearly it was a dumb idea, I was simply looking for a way to save him time and money, but certainly don't want to disadvantage either of them.

I know you meant no ill well but unless your daughter and partner comply exactly with the law she is at serious financial risk. Trust the lawyer. All the best.

johnston - 2021-02-03 11:21:00
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pcle wrote:

Wouldn't worry. Only the male gets screwed over. It's all about fairness apparently.

what rubbish. There are many, many cases of men hiding assets and income in businesses so they don't become marital property or income for child support purposes. Or continue abusive behaviors to wear the other person down so that they don't fight for a fair share.

Both sides can be guilty of being greedy.

Edited by angelah1 at 3:41 pm, Wed 3 Feb

angelah1 - 2021-02-03 15:40:00
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pcle wrote:

Wouldn't worry. Only the male gets screwed over. It's all about fairness apparently.

Not in my case. He thought our unfinished place was worth a lot more than it was. Could not see that the registered valuation was a hell of a lot more than the GV. I paid him an extra $20,000, which was half the $40,000 I was going to pay off the mortgage with my inheritance. Basically here is some more extra for the "work" that you have done. My solicitor queried it and I told him, I want him to go away and not come back. There is no third time lucky. Three years later I am back to where we were financially before the split. I have managed to do a fair few improvements on the place and very happy with my lot. He on the other hand has made some very stupid decisions and currently cannot enjoy anything.

joanie04 - 2021-02-03 20:33:00
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In the context of a house purchase, $800-1,300 is negligible. Get it right, now.

amasser - 2021-02-04 10:13:00
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The member deleted this message.

mals69 - 2021-02-06 04:58:00
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The member deleted this message.

mals69 - 2021-02-06 05:04:00
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mals69 wrote:

Your daughter sounds to have a shite lawyer if they didn't even explain the process that her partner needs to also seek independent legal advice.
There is no Punch without Judy in the process.

Far more likely the lawyer did everything right and it's the op who wasn't even present or party to the agreement who stuck her nose in without having a clue.

johnston - 2021-02-06 08:33:00
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Tenants in common set up maybe?

lakeview3 - 2021-02-06 17:55:00
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johnston wrote:

Really? You had two contracts?

Well, probably not, but two lawyers were definitely involved. Because it's been a while I probably got confused with the copy each we signed.

hazelnut2 - 2021-02-07 07:59:00
27
hazelnut2 wrote:

Well, probably not, but two lawyers were definitely involved. Because it's been a while I probably got confused with the copy each we signed.

Definitely not. You had two copies of the same agreement.

johnston - 2021-02-07 11:17:00
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