Binding Financial Agreements, explained in plain English.

No. myBFA is a platform and does not give legal advice. Independent legal advice is provided by participating Australian Family Lawyers — a separate Lawyer for each partner.

Yes. In Australia, "prenup" is the everyday name for a Binding Financial Agreement, and legally they are the same thing. A BFA can be made before a marriage or relationship, which is what most people mean by a prenup, during the relationship, or after separation. All of them are binding under the Family Law Act 1975.

Yes. Independent legal advice is a statutory requirement for a BFA to be binding under the Family Law Act 1975, and both partners must receive it from separate Australian-qualified lawyers. Both lawyers are included in the flat fee, at no extra cost.

Yes. We comply fully with the Family Law Act 1975 and our Agreements are prepared by a panel of expert Family Lawyers.

At any stage: before marriage or moving in together, during the relationship, or after separation (before or after divorce). The relevant section of the Family Law Act changes with your situation, but the protection is the same.

Everything you own and owe: property, bank accounts, shares and crypto, superannuation, business interests, vehicles and valuables, and debts such as mortgages, credit cards, personal loans and HECS/HELP. Include any known future interests such as trusts or expected inheritances. Hiding or understating anything — even by accident — can allow a court to set the agreement aside (or cancel it).

Two to four days for most couples, from sign-up to signed. The questionnaire and financial disclosure are done at your own pace, and some couples finish them in about 30 minutes, so the timing is usually set by how quickly the two of you get through the questions. Once you have both finished and reviewed the agreement, your lawyers review it and each of you receives a detailed letter of advice.

Yes. myBFA is available in every Australian state and territory, and everything happens online, so you do not need to live near us or come into an office. Each of you is matched with an independent Australian Family Lawyer. That includes Western Australia, where de facto couples need an agreement under WA law, which we also prepare.

Yes. Everything happens online, so you can complete your agreement from anywhere. It is an Australian agreement, and it covers your property and finances under Australian law. It is not an international agreement, so whether another country would recognise it depends on that country’s law. Each of you is still advised by an independent Australian Family Lawyer.

The $2,500 inc GST covers everything needed to prepare and finalise your Binding Financial Agreement: the secure platform where you both complete financial disclosure, drafting of the agreement itself, legal advice in plain English from an independent Family Lawyer for each of you, both advice certificates, electronic signing and encrypted storage of the signed document. You can make as many changes to the questionnaire as you like before submitting your Agreement to the Lawyers. It does not cover lawyer time beyond what is needed to prepare and review the agreement, so extended consultations, extra meetings or work outside the standard process are charged separately. You can book a 15, 30 or 60 min consult with your Lawyer via the platform.

Because the platform does the repetitive work. Disclosure and drafting are systematised, so the lawyers spend their time on the part only a lawyer can do, which is giving you proper legal advice. There is no hourly billing and no time wasted.

You choose at signup. You can pay the full $2,500 inc GST yourself, your partner can pay it, or you can split it evenly at $1,250 inc GST each. Both lawyers’ fees are inside that figure, with nothing more to pay.

Yes. De facto couples (including same-sex couples) and couples planning to live together can make a BFA. If you later marry, ask your lawyer whether your existing agreement still fits or should be replaced with one made under the marriage provisions.

No. A BFA deals only with money and property. Parenting arrangements are dealt with separately.

Yes. They do different jobs. A BFA sets out how property is divided between you and your partner if you separate. A will sets out who receives your estate when you die. Having one doesn’t replace the other, and most people with a BFA should also have an up-to-date will.

Yes, and this is common in blended families. For example, a BFA can keep a property as your separate asset, and your will can leave that property to your children while providing for your partner in other ways. We recommend you talk to your family lawyer so the two documents line up.

Most states and territories exempt transfers of property between partners made under a BFA from transfer (stamp) duty. Rules and paperwork differ by state, so check before transferring.

Yes. Super is treated as property under family law, so a BFA can say how it’s dealt with. If you each keep your own super, that’s included in the agreement fee. If you choose to split super between you, there’s an extra cost of $495 inc GST. That covers a lawyer contacting your super fund to approve the split, and it means your BFA takes longer to finalise. Super splitting is only available in post-separation agreements.

Yes. Our post-separation Agreements allow you to split your super within an SMSF or industry fund. You can split your super using a dollar amount or percentage and the Agreement sets out the process for splitting super. Once you have completed the questionnaire and paid for the Agreement, you can download the whole agreement and send it to your super fund to ensure they are happy with the wording. You should do this before you send the Agreement to the Lawyers through the platform.

Yes. A BFA can set out whether maintenance will be paid, how much, for how long, and in what form — for example, $2,000 a month for two years to help a partner who stayed home with children return to work. Any maintenance clause must name the person receiving it and the amount or value involved.

Yes. A BFA can cover property, bank accounts, investments, businesses and super held overseas, and you must disclose them in full just like Australian assets. Leaving out an overseas asset is a common reason agreements are later set aside or cancelled.

No. This is not a common clause in BFAs.

No. This is not a common clause in BFAs. A BFA sets out each party’s assets and liabilities and sets out how they are to be divided if the relationship breaks down.

You can pause or stop at any time before signing. No agreement is binding until both of you have signed and received your legal advice certificates. After signing, you can always create a new Agreement if your circumstances change.

While you are still drafting you can change your answers as many times as you like at no extra cost. Your agreement is built from those answers, so changing an answer updates the agreement. Once the agreement is submitted for lawyer review it locks, so that both lawyers are advising on a settled set of terms. If you need to change something after that, you can unlock it for $490, update your answers, and both lawyers re-review the new terms as part of that fee. After you have both signed, the agreement is binding and cannot be edited. If your circumstances change later, you and your partner make a fresh agreement that replaces the old one, and that is priced as a new agreement.

Yes, if you both agree. You can sign a termination agreement (with independent legal advice for each of you) or a new BFA that terminates the old one. Once terminated, the old BFA has no effect. One partner can’t cancel it alone.

Yes. Revisit it after big life events — marriage, children, buying a home, starting a business, an inheritance or a large change in income — and check your will at the same time.

You follow the agreement. Assets are divided as the BFA says, generally without going to court. Many states also exempt property transfers under a BFA from stamp duty or transfer duty.