CPD Webinar - How Binding are Financial Agreements

1 CPD Point – Substantive Law

Almost everyone has heard of a “Pre-Nup” or Pre-nuptial agreement, but most of our understanding comes from US based media and literature. This leads us to the question “Does Australia have Pre-Nups, and are they worth the paper they are written on?”

Jemma Mackenzie from Forte Family Lawyers is an accredited specialist in Family Law and has years of experience in advising clients on Family Law matters, including Financial Agreements, the Australian equivalent of what is commonly called a Pre-Nup.

In this webinar, Jemma will cover:

• Pre-nuptial agreements aren’t valid in Australia, or, are they? Common misconceptions about Financial Agreements.
• Legislative requirements under the Family Law Act 1975.
• Marriage v De facto relationships.
• When is a Financial Agreement ‘binding’?
• Can a faulty Financial Agreement be ‘saved’?
• When can a Court set aside a Financial Agreement?
• Variation and termination of a Financial Agreement.
• A Financial Agreement only becomes operative on the breakdown of a relationship. What happens if a party to a Financial Agreement dies?
• Potential advantages & disadvantages.
• Risk factors.

This Webinar is suitable for professional advisers, accountants and lawyers. The Webinar is pitched at an intermediate level. We encourage you to ask questions to make the most of this learning opportunity.

Continuing Professional Development

Legal CPD:

WA legal practitioners (QA Provider ID 29250)

1 CPD point, Competency Area 4 – Substantive Law. To ensure you receive your CPD Points for this event, please provide us with your Legal Practice Board Practitioner ID during registration. Note: CPD Points are only available for participation in the live webinar. At this time, webinar recordings (for those that are registered but unable to attend) are not eligible for WA Legal CPD Points.

Legal practitioners outside of WA

If you consider that this webinar satisfies your individual requirement, or is relevant to your immediate or long-term professional development needs, you may claim 0.5 CPD points for every 30 minutes of attendance and participation.

Accounting CPD:

1 CPD Point

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Presenter: Jemma Mackenzie
Partner; Forte Family Lawyers

Jemma is a partner of Forte Family Lawyers. She has worked in family law for more than 15 years and obtained Specialist Accreditation as a Family Lawyer from the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV) in 2015.

Jemma is recognised as a Recommended Leading Family & Divorce Lawyer (Melbourne) and Leading Parenting & Children’s Matters Lawyers (Victoria) in Doyle’s Guide to the Australian Legal Market for 2025.

Jemma has experience in a wide variety of family law cases including complex property disputes, maintenance, Financial Agreements (including pre-nuptial agreements), children’s matters, child support and family violence.

Jemma is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers, a global association of lawyers recognised by their professional colleagues for their skill and experience. Jemma is routinely engaged to act in international matters, including jurisdictional/forum disputes.

In addition to her daily work with clients, Jemma has authored papers and presented seminars to peers in the legal professional, financial advisors and medico-legal professionals.

Jemma is a member of the Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the LIV and the LIV Parenting Working Group. She is also a member of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia and of Victorian Women Lawyers.