Hi there! We’re Bespoke Family Lawyers.
We are here to guide you out of the uncertainty of separation to financial certainty and freedom, to clear arrangements for your children and to the power and confidence you need to rebuild your life.
When you’re faced with the prospect of divorce, the thought of working with a lawyer and discussing how to deal with the finances can seem daunting. But at Bespoke Family Lawyers, our divorce strategic planning session is focused on being an opportunity for you to be educated and informed about the legal process, understand your options and be in a position to map out a strategic plan to rebuild your life. By having a clear vision of your desired future, you can make informed decisions during the property settlement process that align with your goals and the life you want going forward.
The first step in how we help you sort out the finances is our divorce strategic planning session. This session is more than just a legal conversation – it’s a conversation about you and how you want to move forward. Our accredited family law specialist and director, Amy Sanders-Robbins, will listen to your story, what you want to achieve, work out your entitlements, and decide on the best strategy and course of action to help you create the life you want going forward.
When it comes to property settlement, it’s important to be aware of your options and to prioritise what’s most important to you. This can include trying to retain or receive the assets that will support your desired lifestyle, such as a new home, car, a business, or an investment property. By creating a divorce strategy that aligns with your goals, you can negotiate with confidence and make strategic decisions that will help bring your dream life into reality.
Before we can start looking at your settlement options for a property settlement or working out the best strategy, we will take you through a few steps.
The first step is to understand the history of your relationship.
While this may be difficult, having a holistic view of past events and your story can help us better understand the relationship dynamic, get clearer on both you and your ex’s positions, and determine where you’d like to go next.
The second step is to work out the property pool – the size of the pie available for division between you and your ex.
We will put together a list of assets, liabilities, and financial resources held by you and your ex, and ensure that everyone is on the same page about the size of the property pool that we’re talking about dividing.
The third step is to work out your contributions, which refers to what you and your Ex each “brought” or “added” to the relationship.
This includes the financial, non-financial, or care contributions. We will consider each person’s contribution at the beginning of the relationship, during the length of the relationship and after separation when developing your strategy and settlement options.
Next, we’ll discuss yours and your ex’s future needs.
This conversation will be quite broad and cover a range of topics, including yours and your Ex’s earning capacity, ability to re-enter the workforce, the arrangements for dependent children, what child support is being paid and whether this meets the financial needs of the children, healthcare needs and any associated costs, any differences in your respective superannuation entitlements, and the details of any financial resources available to either of you. We can also use this time to discuss if you require spousal maintenance in the short, medium, or long term.
Finally, we’ll discuss the range of outcomes you could expect to achieve.
This is where we’ll bring all the pieces together from each step to provide you with preliminary advice on your range of outcomes and start to discuss your options. We’ll work together to get clear on what you might want to achieve at the end of the process and what you want to walk away with to rebuild your life.
Using our expertise, we’ll explain the various paths you can take to get a resolution, and together, we’ll create divorce strategy focused on helping you to financially rebuild, and achieving a divorce settlement that helps you to live your best life going forward.
Our biggest goal is to give you a sense of clarity, confidence, and direction so that you can plan how you move forward.
So, if you’re considering separation or divorce, don’t let the idea of talking about your finances with a family lawyer overwhelm you. Instead, use our strategic planning session as an opportunity to be empowered and informed so you can get crystal clear on what on the process and your options. More importantly, use it as an opportunity to get clarity on what you need to achieve from a settlement to build the life you want in your next chapter.
Let us guide you through the process and help you to map out a plan that moves you toward the life and future you want to build with clarity and confidence.
Our expert team of family lawyers would love to help you to recover, rebuild, and move forward. Book your strategic planning session today or download our helpful free resources.
***Disclaimer***
This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or any other professional advice.
