BFA PLUS and Consent Orders PLUS packages

We assume that both parties are in full agreement about the terms of the BFA. This includes BFAs at the start or mid relationship, and also Separation BFAs.

This scope of the service offered by AussieLegal, in conjunction with our panel of law firms, is designed to make the process as time and cost efficient as possible.

Reasonable small changes are fine and are easily within the scope of the service offered.

If the re-drafting and discussions with the advising lawyers are extensive, then additional fees may be charged by the law firms after consultation. This is very uncommon in our experience, but the law firms reserve the right in 'difficult' situations.

Full disclosure of assets and liabilities

Full disclosure of assets and liabilities is MANDATORY as part of the process.

The certifying lawyers WILL NOT certify a BFA or Consent Orders if there is not full financial disclosure.

Even if both parties choose to not disclose, the lawyers will not be able to assess if the BFA is fair and equitable and will not certify the agreement as the agreement is open to challenge as some time in the future.

You will be expected to provide account numbers and balances for all bank accounts, investment accounts, super accounts, plus details of all real estate and any other assets, plus details of mortgage accounts, credit card accounts and any other relevant asset or liability both in Australia and also assets and liabilities held offshore.

We recommend taking scans of the front pages of all accounts and rates notices and making these available to the lawyers and the other party to the agreement.

Fully explain what you wish to accomplish through a BFA or Consent Orders

In the questionnaire, please set out in bullet point form what you aim to accomplish. We are very experienced at interpreting instructions. We will ask you for clarification if there is a vague instruction. It is very important to have the draft agreement as complete as possible before it is sent to the advising solicitors. If in doubt. Please call AussieLegal on 1300 728 200 or email us at info@aussielegal.com.au to ask questions.

AussieLegal is not permitted to provide legal advice, but we can guide you and provide information that may assist you.

Fairness and Equity

One of the role of the certifying lawyers is to advise each party as to the fairness and equity of the proposed agreement and if each party should sign the agreement.

The certifying lawyers WILL NOT certify a BFA or Consent Orders if the agreement is not fair and equitable.

As part of the discovery process through the questionnaire, if we believe the proposed terms are not consistent with the reasonable expectations of the certifying law firms (given our experience and the feedback from the law firms in many previous files) we will bring this to your attention and discuss alternative terms.

Binding Financial Agreements PLUS

There are 3 stages in the BFA PLUS process:

1. Questionnaire: We ask you to complete the questionnaire in Word format (available at the time of purchase) including financial disclosure and instructions, and return it to AussieLegal. AussieLegal then extracts the information and prepares a comprehensive BFA draft based on your questionnaire. This is email to you for comments and updates, if required. This part of the process is quite flexible and there is plenty of allowance for making changes and adding missing information.
2. Review by lawyers: When you are both happy with the draft BFA, it is forwarded to your assigned law firms for their review. They will review the document and contact each of you separately to discuss the agreement. Lawyer's time is valuable. There are a few circumstances which can delay the process and require more time by the lawyers:
   

• • If the parties change their minds; and / or
  • If the terms agreed by the parties requires significant further discussion; and / or
  • If there is some complication that arises after the discussions which requires significant re-drafting and further discussion between the lawyers; and / or
  • Where the parties change their minds after the lawyer's certificates are issued and the certificated need to be re-issued; and / or
  • Where, in the opinion of either / or the advising lawyers, the BFA should be translated into the native language of either party, and the translator should act as an interpreter during the advisory process (NAATI certified translator & interpreter) then the cost of the translation and interpretation is for the account of the parties.

In these circumstances, the lawyers [reasonably] will ask for additional fees at an agreed hourly rate.

The solicitors will alert you to this situation, and request fees directly from the parties.
In the vast majority of cases, the BFA PLUS process is completed and falls within the price quoted.

3. Certification & signing: When you are both happy with the final draft, and the lawyers are happy, the lawyers will send you a formal Letter of Advice summarising your discussion. Each lawyer will ask each of you to sign and return a 1 page acknowledgement confirming you have read and understand the advice. The lawyers will then send each of you a 1 page Certificate. Print the 2 certificates, attach them to a printed copy of the final draft, visit a JP and sign the agreement. Scan and send a copy of the signed agreement and the 2 certificates to each solicitor for their records.

IMPORTANT: There is no guarantee that the solicitors will issue a certificate. If the solicitors are not comfortable with the proposed terms, and no compromise can be satisfactorily reached, then the lawyers may not issue the certificate. If this is the case, legal advice has been given and there is no possibility of a refund of any part of the service.

There are 3 stages in the Consent Orders process:

1. Questionnaire: We ask you to complete the questionnaire in Word format (available at the time of purchase) including financial disclosure and instructions, and the Application for Consent Orders form (Q1 to Q41 only where relevant) (available at the time of purchase) and return these to AussieLegal by uploading through your member page. AussieLegal then extracts the information, edits and updates the Application for Consent Orders, and prepares Draft Consent Orders based on your questionnaire. These are emailed to you for comments and updates, if required. This part of the process is quite flexible and there is plenty of allowance for making changes and adding missing information.
2. Review by lawyers: When you are both happy with the draft documents, they are forwarded to your assigned law firms for their review. They will review the documents and contact each of you (the parties to the agreement) separately to discuss the documents.
   Lawyer's time is valuable. There are a few circumstances which can delay the process and require more time by the lawyers:
   

• • If the parties change their minds; and / or
  • If the terms agreed by the parties requires further discussion and negotiation; and / or
  • If there is some complication that arises after the discussions which requires re-drafting and further discussion between the lawyers; and / or
  • Where the parties change their minds after the lawyer's certificates are issued and the certificated need to be re-issued; and / or
  • Where, in the opinion of either / or the advising lawyers, the documents should be translated into the native language of either party, and the translator should act as an interpreter during the advisory process (NAATI certified translator & interpreter) then the cost of the translation and interpretation is for the account of the parties;

In these circumstances, the solicitors [reasonably] will ask for additional fees at an agreed hourly rate.

The lawyers will alert you to this situation, and request fees directly from the parties.
In most cases, Consent Orders PLUS process is completed and falls within the price quoted.

3. Certification & signing: When you are both happy with the final documents, the lawyers will advise you accordingly, and the lawyers will send you a formal Letter of Advice summarising your discussion. They will ask to sign and return a 1 page acknowledgement confirming you have read and understand the advice. The lawyers will then send each of you a 1 page Certificate.
The lawyers will instruct you on the formal part of the process to ensure it is signed properly.
The documents may then be filed electronically by either advising lawyer.
4. Court Requisitions*: The application for Consent Orders is an application to the Family Court or Federal Circuit Court. All applications are reviewed and considered by the relevant Court and must be approved by the Court.

IMPORTANT: There is NO GUARANTEE that an application will be accepted and stamped by the Court.

Formal legal advice and certification, as part of the process with your assigned lawyers, is designed to give the application the greatest chance of success.
In cases where the Court is not satisfied, or the Court requires additional information or clarification on a particular order, they may issue a ‘Requisition’ (a request to provide more information).

If there is a Requisition form the Court, your assigned lawyers will require additional fees to address the requests from the Court*.

Probate PLUS and Letters of Administration packages

Prior to purchasing an AussieLegal product or service, we ask you to register an account. Registration will provide you with a member page where you can access your documents and additional information. Importantly, you may also upload documents to your member page. For example:

1. Your completed questionnaire;
2. A scan copy of the will and any codicils (this may not be relevant for the Letters of Administration package);
3. A scan copy of the death certificate;
4. Any other document (e.g. a scan copy of the rates notice if there is real estate as part of the estate) that may be relevant to the process or application.
5. AussieLegal may also upload draft documents to your member page for your review. This method of document exchange is more secure and efficient.
   

Process:
There are 3 stages in the Probate and Letters of Administration process:

1. Questionnaire, will and death certificate: We ask you to complete the questionnaire in Word format (available at the time of purchase) and return it to AussieLegal along with a scan copy of the will, codicils and death certificate.
2. Preparation of application documentation: AussieLegal will review the information and prepare the draft application documentation. We will email these to you for your review along with a copy of the advertising instructions (not applicable in SA and WA).
3. Signing & Filing: When you have completed the advertising, email AussieLegal and we will update the forms and email the final draft and signing and filing instructions. The final documents may then be filed at the relevant Probate Registry.

Additional fees for Letters of Administration PLUS:
There are a few circumstances which can delay the process and require more time to complete the process by AussieLegal:

1. If the family arrangements are very complex in cases of intestacy (no will of the deceased); and / or
2. If the extended family of the deceased is large and it is necessary to create ‘consent’ forms for all members; and / or
3. If the process is drawn out for an unreasonable amount of time because of delays; and / or
4. If there is some complication that arises which requires significant re-drafting and further discussion.
   

In these circumstances, AussieLegal [reasonably] will ask for additional fees at an hourly rate of $200 +GST per hour. AussieLegal will alert you to this situation prior to incurring additional fees.

Australian Consumer Law

Under Australian Consumer Law, you as a customer, are not entitled to a refund of a service or product if you simply change your mind.

For more information: https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees/cancelling-a-service 

Refund Policy

BFA PLUS / SEPARATION BFA PLUS

PROBATE PLUS / LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION PLUS

ALL D.I.Y. LEGAL KITS

No refunds will be provided at any time once the order is processed.