Binding financial agreements (BFA) are legal agreements between partners about how money and assets are handled if the relationship ends. It’s not just for the wealthy or people about to marry: de facto couples, partners with very different incomes, and blended families use them too.
Binding Financial Agreements or BFA sets out, in advance, who keeps what if you separate: property, savings, debts, and sometimes spousal maintenance. Instead of leaving it to a court later, you decide together now, while things are calm.
More people than you’d think: de facto couples buying property together, partners coming in with very different assets or incomes, second relationships where there are children from before, and anyone wanting to protect a business, an inheritance, or something they built before the relationship
Before you move in or marry, during the relationship, or even after it ends. It’s never “too late” to sort out how finances are handled, though earlier usually means fewer surprises.
For a BFA to be binding, each person has to get their own independent legal advice before signing. That’s a legal requirement, not an upsell. It’s what makes the agreement hold up. AussieLegal can connect each of you with the advice you need.
The biggest mistake is treating a BFA as something you can sort out later, once things get serious. In practice, the earlier both people turn their minds to it, the calmer the conversation tends to be.
Another is using one lawyer for “convenience.” A BFA only holds up if each person gets independent legal advice, sharing a lawyer to save time or money is one of the fastest ways to end up with an agreement that doesn’t stick.
A third is leaving out assets that feel awkward to mention, like a business interest or an inheritance one partner is expecting. A BFA works best when it’s a complete and honest picture, not a partial one.
The single biggest cost blowout we see is people comparing quotes without checking what’s actually included. A cheap headline price that doesn’t cover independent legal advice for both parties, or doesn’t include the mandatory certificates, isn’t a complete BFA at all. It’s a draft you’ll still need to pay to finish properly. Always ask what’s included before you compare two prices side by side.
The second common mistake is trying to negotiate the terms informally between yourselves first, then bringing lawyers in once positions have hardened. Lawyers can usually work faster and cheaper when they’re involved from the start, guiding the conversation rather than untangling a disagreement that’s already become personal. Couples who agree on the outcome before contacting lawyers almost always spend less.
The third is patchy financial disclosure. If documents trickle in over weeks rather than arriving as a complete set upfront, your lawyers spend time chasing paperwork instead of drafting. And that time is billed either way, fixed-fee or hourly. Before contacting a lawyer, pull together bank statements, super statements, and any business or trust documents into one folder.
Consider Sarah and Tom, a de facto couple in NSW who’ve been together for a couple of years. Sarah owns a home she bought before the relationship began; Tom is bringing a share portfolio into it.
They put a BFA in place setting out that Sarah’s home and Tom’s portfolio stay their own separate property, while anything they buy together during the relationship is shared. Each sees their own solicitor, gets independent advice, and signs with a clear understanding of what they’re agreeing to.
If they separate a few years later, the agreement does the heavy lifting: instead of arguing over who owned what before the relationship began, they simply follow what they already agreed while things were calm and cooperative.
A “prenup” is one kind of BFA, made before marriage. But BFAs can also be made during or after a relationship, and by de facto couples, not just married ones.
Many find one useful, especially if you own property together or have different assets and incomes. De facto couples have financial claims on each other under the law, so an agreement can add clarity.
Yes. For a BFA to be binding, each person must get independent legal advice before signing. It’s what makes it enforceable.
Yes. A BFA can be made during a relationship, before it.
AussieLegal can connect each of you with your own independent legal advice through our partner-firm network, which is the step that makes a BFA binding rather than optional. Call 1300 728 200 or visit aussielegal.com.au to talk through whether one fits your situation.
The thing people leave out is whatever feels awkward to raise: a business interest, an inheritance one partner expects, a loan from a parent that was never quite documented. A BFA works because it is a complete picture. A partial one is an agreement with a gap in it, and the gap is where the argument starts years later.
A BFA sets out who keeps what if you separate, and it can be made before you move in, during the relationship, or after it ends. Each person needs their own lawyer for it to stick, so sharing one to save money is a false economy. The earlier both of you turn your minds to it, the calmer the conversation tends to be.
Call us today and we’ll connect you with independent advice for each of you.
