Property & Finances
Divide it once, properly, and be done with it.
Mediation for property settlement and financial disputes — the home, superannuation, business interests and debts — structured so the outcome can go straight into enforceable orders.
Before you can file a property application you are expected to have made a genuine effort to resolve the matter, including through dispute resolution. That is Schedule 1 of the Court Rules, not a suggestion.
What's covered
Six things that get settled.
A property settlement is one arithmetic problem wearing six disguises. Mediation works best when they are taken in order rather than argued about at once.
- 01
The asset pool
What is actually in it, at what value, and at what date. Agreeing the pool before arguing about the split removes most of the heat from the rest of the day.
- 02
The home
Sell, transfer, or one party retains and refinances — and what happens if the refinance is declined. An agreement that assumes finance will be approved is an agreement with a hole in it.
- 03
Superannuation
Valuation and splitting under Part VIIIB, including defined-benefit interests that cannot be valued off a member statement. Often the second-largest asset and routinely the least understood.
- 04
Business and trust interests
Company shares, trust entitlements, goodwill, loan accounts and the tax consequences of moving any of it. Where a valuer is needed we say so before the mediation, not during it.
- 05
Debts and liabilities
Mortgages, personal guarantees, tax debts and the credit cards nobody mentions until late in the day. Liabilities come out of the pool, so they have to be on the table.
- 06
Overseas assets
Property, accounts or inheritances held outside Australia. They do not fall outside the pool, and dealing with them needs both legal systems in view at once.
The sequence
From first call to consent orders.
Disclosure comes before negotiation. A settlement built on incomplete financial information is the one most likely to be set aside later, and the duty under r 6.06 is ongoing.
- 01 20 min
First call
No charge. The shape of the pool, whether proceedings have started, where the time limits sit, and whether mediation is the right next step.
- 02 2–4 weeks
Disclosure
Exchange of financial documents and any valuations required. The single biggest cause of a failed property mediation is arriving without this done.
- 03 1 hr each
Pre-meetings
Each party separately. What the pool looks like, what a court would likely do with it, and the range within which a sensible settlement sits.
- 04 4–7 hrs
Joint session & documents
Negotiation to heads of agreement signed on the day, then consent orders or a binding financial agreement drafted from it.
What it costs
Fixed fees, agreed before you book.
Quoted as a fixed fee for the process rather than billed by the hour — which also means nobody is paying for the mediation to run long.
- First call
- Twenty minutes to establish whether mediation suits your matter at all. No obligation to book anything afterwards.
- No charge
- Intake & pre-meeting
- Per party, held separately and confidentially, and scheduled around both diaries once a joint session is confirmed. Charged on its own so that if either of you decides not to continue, there is no cost for a joint session that was never going to work.
- $385
- Half-day mediation
- Four hours. Suits a focused dispute, or parenting and property together where the asset pool is straightforward.
- $2,650
- Full-day mediation
- Seven hours. The usual choice where lawyers attend, where a business or trust is involved, or where you want everything resolved in one sitting.
- $4,950
- Consent orders
- Application for Consent Orders and minute of order drafted from the heads of agreement. No court attendance required.
- Quoted
- Binding financial agreement
- Where orders are not suitable. Each party must have independent legal advice, so one of you will need your own solicitor.
- Quoted
- Valuations
- Property, business or defined-benefit superannuation valuations are paid to the valuer directly, not to us.
- At cost
All figures include GST and cover the practitioner’s reading time and both pre-meetings. Fees are shared equally between the parties unless you agree otherwise, and are payable before the joint session. Room hire is paid to the venue and is separate — currently $460 to $500 for the day, depending which of the three you choose, and nothing at all if the session runs online. Everything is confirmed in writing in your costs agreement before anything is booked.
What to watch
Six things that sink property settlements.
Every one of these is routine, and every one of them is easier to deal with before the joint session than during it.
-
Incomplete disclosure
Rule 6.06
The duty is full, frank and continuing. An agreement reached on a pool that turns out to be understated is an agreement a court can set aside — which means the party who concealed something has bought nothing but delay.
-
The time limits
Section 44
Twelve months from a divorce order taking effect for married couples; two years from separation for de facto relationships. Out of time you need the court’s leave, which is neither automatic nor cheap.
-
Superannuation assumptions
Part VIIIB
A member statement is not a family law valuation, and defined-benefit interests in particular need to be valued under the prescribed method. Settling on the wrong number is settling on the wrong settlement.
-
Tax and duty
Consequences
Capital gains rollover, stamp duty exemptions and the tax treatment of trust distributions all turn on how the transfer is structured. The same economic split can cost very different amounts.
-
Undisclosed liabilities
Guarantees
Personal guarantees, ATO debts and family loans that may or may not be real debts. These change the pool, and they surface late unless someone asks early.
-
Family violence
Economic effect
The economic effect of family violence is expressly among the matters relevant to contributions and future needs. Where it is present, mediation proceeds shuttled or not at all — and the financial consequence is not ignored.
Questions
What people ask before they book.
Do I need a section 60I certificate for a property matter?
No. Section 60I applies to parenting orders only. But property matters are subject to the pre-action procedures in Schedule 1 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court Rules, which require you to make a genuine effort to resolve the dispute — including participating in dispute resolution — before you file. A court can take a failure to comply into account, including on costs.
How is a property settlement actually worked out?
In practice the court identifies the asset pool, considers each party’s contributions — financial and non-financial, including as homemaker and parent — then adjusts for future needs under s75(2) for married couples or s90SF(3) for de facto ones, and finally asks whether the overall result is just and equitable. Mediation does not bypass that framework; it negotiates within the range the framework produces, which is exactly what the pre-meeting is for establishing.
What is the difference between consent orders and a binding financial agreement?
Consent orders are made by the court on the papers — you file an application, no one attends, and the result is a court order enforceable like any other. A binding financial agreement is a private contract that operates outside the court’s jurisdiction; it requires each party to receive independent legal advice and a signed statement from their solicitor, and it can be set aside on specific grounds. Consent orders are usually the better instrument. An agreement is more often the answer where a court would be unlikely to make the orders you both actually want.
Do we both need lawyers?
Not to mediate — the practitioner is neutral and does not advise either of you. Lawyers often attend the joint session and it frequently helps, particularly where the pool is complex. For a binding financial agreement independent advice is a statutory requirement for both parties. For consent orders we can draft from the mediated agreement, and you are each free to have it reviewed.
Can parenting and property be done in the same mediation?
Yes, and for most separating couples that is the sensible course — the two interact, since where the children live affects what happens to the house. It generally needs a full day rather than a half day, and the parenting issues are usually taken first.
What if we have assets overseas?
Foreign assets form part of the pool for Australian purposes. What differs is enforcement and the mechanics of transferring title — a settlement that cannot be implemented in the other jurisdiction is a settlement only on paper. Being qualified in a second legal system means that is tested inside the mediation rather than referred out afterwards.
Is what I say in mediation confidential?
Communications in family dispute resolution are confidential under s10H and inadmissible in court under s10J, with narrow exceptions — principally a serious threat to life or health, or an indication that a child has been abused or is at risk. Note that confidentiality does not make a document privileged: a bank statement produced at mediation is still disclosable, because the duty of disclosure is independent of the mediation.
What happens if we do not reach agreement?
Partial agreements are common and worth having — narrowing six issues to two makes any later hearing shorter and cheaper. Nothing said in the session can be used against you afterwards. If the matter has to be litigated you go in with disclosure complete and the real issues identified, which is a materially better position than most parties manage.
Book the first call. It costs nothing and it is twenty minutes.
We will tell you what your pool looks like, where the time limits sit, and what the whole process would cost — before you commit to any of it.
Parenting mediation