Do you have assets you wish to protect if your second relationship breaks down? This is common and particularly important when you want to protect the financial interests in your estate of the children of your first relationship.

If so, you should consider making a Binding Financial Agreement (BFA) to deal with the division of your assets. This agreement may be entered into before or after you marry or start living together or even after you separate.

Without a BFA, in the event of a second separation your assets will simply form part of the asset pool to be divided with your partner.

In the event of your death, a BFA may help your children avoid an expensive and time-consuming estate dispute, which are increasingly common in the blended family context. If the children of a first relationship are adults, they can also be parties to the BFA.

A BFA can also ease any concerns your children have about your second partner having one eye on your estate and improve their relationship.

To ensure that it is enforceable, each party to the BFA must receive independent legal advice. The negotiation of the BFA should be fair and all assets must be disclosed. Those assets include any property, shares, life insurance and superannuation.

The BFA may deal with any expected inheritances. It should also address how any assets acquired during the relationship will be split.

A BFA can save you or your estate a great deal of heartache and money. It is like an insurance policy except you only pay fo

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