Property settlements are a cornerstone of family law practice, especially in high-net-worth cases involving trusts, businesses, and self-managed super funds (SMSFs). Managing these complexities requires precise calculations, tailored strategies, and having the ability to wade through information to gather and collate the relevant information to assist your client and a valuer.
Key Challenges:
At Family Law Education Network, we have identified 3 Key Challenges in Complex Property Matters:
1. Asset Identification: Locating and valuing assets can involve forensic investigation and collaboration with financial experts in complex cases.
2. Document Overload: Wading through extensive and mundane financial disclosure, can cause important things to be missed.
3. Court Compliance: Lawyers must ensure compliance with court rules and guidelines while meeting tight deadlines, which can be difficult in cases of complex property holdings, complex circumstances (lack of disclosure) and when parties are attempting to hide assets or income streams.
Utilising Technology to Transform Complex Property Settlements
Utilising technology, we can address these challenges head on.
• Searches and Tracing: In cases where clients are unable to provide complete documents and records, the use of searches to ascertain historical and current business and property holdings is essential. It is imperative that a throughout tracing exercise is undertaken and searches should be undertaken in both parties name for current and previous interests, transfers etc. In addition, business name searches, ASIC searches, directors and shareholder searches must also be undertaken from the outset to ensure you have appropriately exhausted possible interests. Saving these into a series of folders within the matter will ensure you meet your due diligence on behalf of the client and can rule out unknown business or land holdings.
• Document Automation using a high quality and comprehensive matter management system and precedent pack, including precedents for financial agreements, disclosure documents, and settlement proposals, saves hours of manual drafting. Using start of the art balance sheets such as LEAP’s Balance Sheet ( URL) will allow you to see the asset pool at a glance, as well as automate the population of essential documents such as your balance sheets.
• Time Tracking and Billing: Accurate time recording and billing features allow lawyers to demonstrate value to clients while streamlining their workflow.
• Secure Collaboration: Utilising a secure platform for collaboration with your clients, experts and counsel for the sharing of information, data collection and financial disclosure is essential to running an effective complex property matter
Client Management
Managing client expectations from the outset is essential. Key tips to do this are as follows:
• Communication regarding financial disclosure – clients should be made aware immediately of their financial disclosure obligations from the outset. This includes their ongoing financial disclosure requirements. Pursuant to the Central Practice Direction (https://www.fcfcoa.gov.au/fl/pd/fam-cpd) Lawyers are obligated to confirm with heir clients prior to each specified court date.
• Deadline Communications: Clients should be advise id advance of all deadlines for the matter including filing deadlines, statutory limitations periods etc. They should be given clear delivery timelines and you should be ensuring that you communicate what you will deliver when in advance. Build a buffer of time into your estimated delivery and deliver early. Exceed their expectations by delivering early because you built in that buffer. Maintain these deadlines by creating tasks and reminders in your matter management system such as LEAP Family Law.
Expert Engagement
Finally, it is essential for your client to understand from the outset that you are a lawyer not a valuer. Do not purport to assist the client to determine a value of an asset. It is essential that you advise them that if a value cannot be agreed an expert must be engaged.
Engage expert valuers early on to assist you client from the outset.
Determine if a shadow valuer is required after the release of a valuation, for the purposes of either cross examination questions for Counsel or expert opinion for final hearing.
Navigating Complex Financial Matters is all about being organised
In a field as intricate as family law, efficiency and organisation is the key to achieving successful outcomes.
Both Family Law Education Network and LEAP Family Law empowers family lawyers to manage even the most complex property settlements with confidence, precision, and ease.
LEAP Family Law Family Law is built for Family Lawyers and includes:
• Pre-configured family law matter types
• Document Automation
• Online Guidance
• Time Recording
• Brief collation
• E filing and Court Sync
• Balance Sheet+
Wish to attend our FREE webinar Financial Disclosure, Balance Sheets and Forensic Accounting in Family Law Proceedings on 9 April proudly bought to you in partnership by Family Law Education Network and LEAP Family Law.
Then just click here to register: https://form.jotform.com/250760319864866
