When planning for a separation, friends and family sometimes might recommend tucking away some money in a secret bank account. Whilst it is never a bad idea to save money, the notion of secrecy will not hold up during family law negotiations.

Obligations for financial disclosure

When it comes to dividing up the property pool following a relationship breakdown, one of the first things you will be asked is to provide information that proves your financial situation with respect to assets and liabilities, along with income and expenses.

Both you and your former partner have an obligation to provide this information to each other so that an accurate assessment can be made of the items, equity, and debt available for division, and that each of you can make an informed decision as to whether a particular settlement can or should be accepted.

What documents are required for financial disclosure?

You will most likely hear the terms “full and frank financial disclosure” or “financial discovery” referred to as you engage in the process of exchanging financial information and documents with your former partner. During this process you will be requested to provide documents such as:

tax returns and notices of assessments
bank, credit, and loan statements
pay slips
share portfolios
property, motor vehicle, and machinery valuations of appraisals
superannuation statements
inheritance or gift details, and
company and trust financial statements, bank and taxation records.

The relationship property pool will consist of all the assets belonging to you and your partner, regardless of whether a particular item is registered in joint names or individual names, like the family home and an investment property being held by each of you. Assets held with a third party will also be included to the degree of your ownership, such as a business partnership or investment property.

Failing to provide the requested details can result in delays in negotiating or settling a dispute, and can often see cases end up in court that could or should have been resolved. All of these consequences will also result in additional, and often unnecessary, legal fees.

If court orders are made for financial disclosure, then a failure to provide the required documents can result in a costs order against the defaulting party and if subpoenas are required this too can result in additional expense.

Ultimately, if there is a failure to disclose financial assets, resources, or interests to the other party of a relationship settlement, that agreement or court order can be set aside. There can be significant penalties and costs involved for the party who has formalised an agreement or court orders and falsely declared that they held no additional financial interests.

How can Sharrock Pitman Legal assist?

If you require assistance with your family law matters, we are happy to help. Contact our Accredited Specialist Family Law team on 1300 205 506 or by email at family@sharrockpitman.com.au.

The information contained in this article is intended to be of a general nature only and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Any legal matters should be discussed specifically with one of our lawyers.

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

Written by one of our lawyers

For further information contact

Ath Balaskas

Ath is a Senior Associate of Sharrock Pitman Legal.

She is an Accredited Specialist in Family Law (accredited by the Law Institute of Victoria). For further information, contact Ath on her direct line (03) 8561 3319.

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However, in this article we will set out the factors that influence how long it will take to obtain a Grant of Probate and to administer an estate in Victoria.

The basics

First things first: what is a Grant of Probate? A Grant of Probate is effectively a document issued by the Supreme Court of Victoria which formally authorises an executor to manage the estate of a deceased person in accordance with their Will. Without Probate, the asset holders (say a bank or share registry) cannot be satisfied as who has the correct authority to receive the deceased's assets and may refuse to pay out.

Sometimes, for smaller estates or if assets are mostly jointly owned with a surviving spouse, asset holders might agree to release payment without requiring a Grant of Probate. This is usually on the basis that the person who receives payment promises to repay (or Indemnify) the asset holder if it turns out they paid to the wrong person.

If there is no Will, then you cannot obtain a Grant of Probate. Instead you obtain Letters of Administration. This is effectively the same, in terms of authorising someone to administer the estate, and would usually be obtained by the person who is the closest next-of-kin to the deceased.

“A Grant of Probate is effectively a document issued by the Supreme Court of Victoria which formally authorises an executor to manage the estate of a deceased person in accordance with their Will.”

Timeframes for Probate in Victoria

In order to obtain a Grant of Probate, the Supreme Court needs to be given information about the assets and liabilities of the estate, the deceased person, the witnesses to the Will, the executors and the Will itself. An advertisement of your intention to apply for Probate must also be published on the Supreme Court website for at least 14 days prior to any application being lodged.

Often, making enquires to obtain all the necessary information can take a number of weeks. Also, you will need the Death Certificate for the application for Grant of Probate and possibly for making proper enquires regarding the assets and liabilities. Waiting for the Death Certificate to issue can therefore add a few more weeks to the process. Overall, if you have your application for Grant of Probate lodged within 1 to 2 months from the date of death, you are making timely progress.

The Court itself usually does not take long to process the application (maybe another 1 to 2 weeks) and this is completed using the electronic Supreme Court filing system. This means you do not have to go to a Court hearing. The timeframe for processing applications for Letters of Administration is even less, given that there is no Will document for the Court to consider. There is also a general discretion for the Court to raise a 'Requisition' asking for more information before they review the application - this can sometimes delay matters.

“Overall, if you have your application for Grant of Probate lodged within 1 to 2 months from the date of death, you are making timely progress.”

So, here we are a few months after death and you finally have a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration. It is important to remember that this is the start of the estate administration and not the end. For a very simple estate, you might only need a further month or so to cash the assets and pay them to the correct beneficiaries. However, it can often be more complex than that. Factors that determine the timeframe to administer the estate include:-

Some assets will take time to cash or transfer. For example, if selling a property, final settlement might be 60/90/120 days from the day of sale.
There is a 6 month period for challenges to be brought against the estate and executors must wait until this period expires before distributing the estate, if there is any risk that a disgruntled family member might come forward.
There might need to be final tax returns for the deceased or for the estate. Failing to wait for the ATO to process these could leave the executor personally liable for a tax bill.

You might need to advertise for creditors to come forward and wait for a period of months while this advertising timeframe expires. This protects the executor if they are unsure of all of the deceased's financial dealings and creditors.
It might not always be a good time to immediately cash estate assets. For example, the shares just took a nose-dive, do you still sell regardless of available price?

There is a general rule that executors have an 'executor's year' to complete the estate administration. This means that you should be aiming to have the estate finalised and distributed within 12 months from the date of death.

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

Need help with Probate?

Our expert legal team is ready to take your call!

Mitchell is the Managing Principal of Sharrock Pitman Legal. He is an Accredited Specialist in Commercial Law (accredited by the Law Institute of Victoria). He also deals with areas of Employment Law, Wills & Estate Planning and Probate and can answer all your questions related to probate.

For further information, contact Mitchell on his direct line:

DIRECT LINE:

(03) 8561 3318

Financial Disclosure in Family Law

Obligations for financial disclosure

What documents are required for financial disclosure?