Financial Agreements and legal advice

Take these facts: a second marriage for the husband who was 67 years of age and a younger wife of 36 who he initially met on a dating site. The husband had 3 children from an earlier marriage and was at pains to ensure that their interests be protected in the future. The wife was not born in Australia and lived overseas when the parties met.

In the 2016 case of Kennedy & Thorne the husband insisted on a financial agreement or there would be no marriage. The wife signed one financial agreement before the marriage and a second one after the marriage. On both occasions the wife received legal advice to the effect that the documents were not suitable for her. She still persisted and signed the agreements. How can she then make a complaint? She had relied on her own actions and ignored the advice from a lawyer.

The moral of the story is, if you receive advice you should listen to it. You will have to pay for this advice. It is not free. Do not trivialise it.

In this case the wife tried unsuccessfully to argue during the course of the proceedings that she was stuck with non negotiable agreements she had to sign. In fact the documents when produced to the court showed that her lawyer had made hand written amendments. She had paid for the legal advice and should have taken more care with it.

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