Legal Project Management Plan & Checklist
Purpose of this Guide: Use this fork when the parties are currently in an ongoing marriage or de facto relationship and want to put a financial agreement in place now - whether to define entitlements during the relationship, protect a new inheritance or business acquisition, or settle financial matters on an informal separation without going to court. The critical risk with agreements made during an existing relationship is that if a Divorce Order is made and takes effect before the agreement is fully signed, the entire deed becomes void and must be re-drafted under a different statutory section. This fork adds a specific monitoring task to watch for that jurisdiction shift.
Jurisdiction: Federal - governed by section 90C (currently married) or section 90UC (currently in a de facto relationship) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). No court filing required.
The Process at a Glance: Confirm the parties are still legally married or still in the de facto relationship at the time of drafting. If a concurrent Divorce file is open, link the matters in the PMS and monitor the divorce effective date continuously throughout the drafting process. If the Divorce Order takes effect before the BFA is executed, immediately halt execution, notify the client, and re-draft the entire deed under section 90D. Otherwise proceed through the standard parent plan stages with this additional monitoring step active throughout.
Key Legislation and Case Law: Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 90C (during marriage BFA), s 90UC (during de facto BFA), s 90G(1) and s 90UJ(1) (binding requirements), s 90K(1) and s 90UM(1) (grounds to set aside). [Black v Black [2008] FamCAFC 7](https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FamCAFC/2008/7.html) - the jurisdiction shift trap: an agreement drafted as s 90C but executed after the divorce order takes effect is void ab initio because the statutory head of power has moved to s 90D. The divorce order takes effect 1 month and 1 day after it is made (s 55 Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)).
* Disclaimer: We're nobody's lawyer, because we aren't lawyers. You are, so you know better than to take legal advice from an app. We also aren't accountants or dog trainers - just digital spirit guides taking zero liability for any of this. This site exists to gather the collective knowledge of practitioners like you. Verify everything and submit your feedback on the Binding Financial Agreement - Drafting and Execution - During Relationship Agreement - Jurisdiction Shift Monitoring matter plan to improve the playbook. THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, it's a request for input.
This legal matter plan provides a structured workflow for Family Law cases, outlining the standard Transactional Drafting process. Utilize these tracking templates to manage your legal cases efficiently.
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