Third Parties and Property Settlements

Third parties will sometimes become involved in property settlement matters where their interests are or may be affected by a property settlement order made by the Court.

Third parties often include:

• family members who have extended loans to parties and wish to attempt to recover those loans;
• creditors owed by parties to a family law matter (e.g. banks);
• related entities of the parties (i.e. companies or trusts in which the parties have an interest), who are affected or will be bound by Orders made by the Court;
• if one party is a bankrupt, the Trustee in bankruptcy.

Third parties can be involved in property settlement negotiations or joined to Court proceedings. In some circumstances (i.e. where a debt is owed to a third party), that third party may intervene in a court matter in order to protect their interest.

Where parties have an interest in a company or trust that must do something in accordance with a court order, third parties will often be joined to Orders made by the Court or included as a party to a Binding Financial Agreement.

In the negotiation phase, a third party:

• can be involved in the negotiation, and should be appraised of offers of settlement which may affect their interest;
• may be required to be involved in the disclosure/valuation process.

In a court process, a third party:

• may be joined as a party to the proceedings;
• may intervene in the proceedings;
• may be subpoenaed to produce documents or give evidence;
• may be required to file evidence in the proceedings;
• may be a party to the Court orders which may impose obligations on them.