Recently, the Bennett & Philp Lawyers Family Law team hosted our very first Family Law Seminar in Chinese. The event, How do I protect my assets before, during and after marriage?, was held in collaboration with HuiMing Lin from Australia Law Review.
The seminar was presented by Chai Hoe from Bennett & Philp Lawyers & HuiMing Lin from Australia Law Review.
Chai, a member of our Disputes and Litigation and works closely with Director, Charlie Young and Special Counsel, Barbara Houlihan to advise clients on a range of matters including estate litigation, family law, domestic violence, elder abuse, disputes and litigation, debt recovery and insolvency as well as property, lease and contract disputes. Chai has diverse experience across multiple jurisdictions including Victoria, Singapore and Malaysia. Chai reads, writes and communicates proficiently in English, Mandarin, Malay and various dialects including Cantonese and Hokkien.
The event was a huge success with all attendees taking away practical information on how they can begin protecting their assets, now and into the future.
The seminar was a great success with more than 30 attendees actively participating in the session. Highlights of the night included:
- The difference between joint tenancy and tenancy in common: If you want to learn more about the process to change the manner of holding from joint tenancy to tenancy in common and vice versa, please contact our real estate team.
- How does a court decide how to divide assets and debts: When a court is asked to determine how to divide matrimonial property following a divorce or separation, the court will need to consider a range of factors including what’s in the parties’ asset pool, the direct financial contributions by each party, the indirect financial contributions by each party (such as gifts and inheritances from families), the non-financial contributions such as caring for children and homemaking and other relevant considerations such as age, health, financial resources, care of children and earning capacity.
- Marriage vs de facto relationship in Australia: In Australia, de facto partners are just like married couples, both are equally protected under the family law. The speakers discussed under what circumstances a de facto partner can bring a claim in the court to divide parties’ assets.
- Why is asset protection important? Asset protection and estate planning are crucial to prevent any disputes arising from a divorce/separation, estate disputes and joint debts disputes (especially when a spouse becomes bankrupt).
- How to protect your assets: This can be achieved through, for example, financial agreements, loan agreements, wills and estate planning and family trusts.
We’d like to express our gratitude to the tremendous help and support from everyone to make this event a great success.
If you’re interested in joining our upcoming seminars, please subscribe to our mailing list by sending an email to events@bennettphilp.com.au.
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This article was prepared by Chai Hoe while she was under the employ of Bennett & Philp Lawyers.