As family lawyers, we continue to see unnecessary and often significant increases in the legal costs of family law matters. One of the main reasons for this is the unrealistic expectations by one or both parties as to what they are entitled to. In family law matters, when parties cannot come to an agreement, the Court will decide on how the assets should be divided.

The first step in dividing assets is to calculate the total net asset pool, which is the total assets less liabilities. Assets can include cash, real estate, furniture, vehicles, shares or superannuation, while liabilities can include loans, mortgages, credit card debts or tax debts. You may not own the asset or liability outright, for example financial resources such as property held in trust, an unpaid personal injury claim or a benefit from a Will may be considered by the Court. It is critical that your family lawyer calculates both parties’ net asset pool correctly and in order to do this the parties must provide their family lawyers with accurate values of all of their assets and liabilities. Sometimes valuations or market appraisals are necessary for your family lawyer to assess the net family assets. An accurate total net asset pool calculation assists the family lawyers to set realistic expectations of what each party is entitled to. Ideally, this will help both parties to reach an agreement without taking the family law matter to Court. Avoiding Family Court assists in preventing unnecessary legal costs from being incurred because if an agreement is reached in your family law property settlement, Consent Orders can be filed at a fraction of the cost of Court proceedings.

Make sure you choose lawyers who practice in family law and ask them to explain how they intend to calculate your total net asset pool to achieve a just and equitable outcome for your family law property settlement.

If you require legal advice about a family law matter have a look at how we can assist you on our website at FourLion Legal Family Law and contact us on 9335 6643 or by using the contact us form.