Third Parties and Property Settlements
Expert legal advice on third parties & property settlements in Family Law
Key Points
- Third parties in property settlement matters often include family members, creditors or related entities of the parties.
- Third parties can be joined to property settlement negotiations/proceedings.
- Third parties can be joined to Orders made by the Court or included as a party to a Binding Financial Agreement.
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.
FAQs
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.