Part VIIIA Financial Agreement Dispute: Can a 2017 s 90C agreement exclude s 79 property orders when the Applicant did not receive independent legal advice under s 90G and the Respondent’s credibility is damaged by forged divorce filings? — In-Depth Analysis of Authentic Judgment

Based on the authentic Australian judicial case Chetri & Thapa [2024] FedCFamC2F 1611 (SYC 4296 of 2023), this article disassembles the Court’s judgment process regarding evidence and law. It transforms complex judicial reasoning into clear, understandable key point analyses, helping readers identify the core of the dispute, understand the judgment logic, make more rational litigation choices, and providing case resources for practical research to readers of all backgrounds.

Chapter 1: Case Overview and Core Disputes

Basic Information

Court of Hearing: Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2)
Presiding Judge: Judge Murdoch
Cause of Action: Family law property proceedings involving a disputed Part VIIIA financial agreement under Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 90C, and the threshold issue of whether the agreement is binding under s 90G
Judgment Date: 14 November 2024
Core Keywords:
Keyword 1: Authentic Judgment Case
Keyword 2: Part VIIIA financial agreement
Keyword 3: Independent legal advice
Keyword 4: Binding requirements under s 90G
Keyword 5: Credibility and forensic dishonesty
Keyword 6: s 90G(1A) unjust and inequitable discretion

Background

This dispute arose out of a long marriage marked by transnational life and business interests. The Applicant migrated to Australia and lived with the Respondent in a home owned by him, while both worked in a business operating from commercial premises connected to the Respondent. Over time, the parties’ financial world expanded across Australia and Country C, with the Applicant frequently travelling overseas to manage assets there.

In early 2017, a document titled a Part VIIIA financial agreement under s 90C was signed. On its face, it sought to settle property and spousal maintenance outcomes without Court intervention. It presented the parties as having separate property pools and minimal overlap, and it carried certificates stating each party received the legal advice required by s 90G.

Years later, the Applicant commenced property proceedings after a divorce order had already been made. The Applicant said she never knowingly entered a financial agreement, never received the required advice, and only learned of the document when it surfaced in litigation. The Respondent insisted the agreement was valid and should prevent the Court from adjusting property under s 79.

This meant the Court had to decide a sharp preliminary question before it could even reach the usual property adjustment exercise: whether the alleged private bargain was legally effective to shut the Court’s doors.

This chapter does not foreshadow the ultimate result. It sets up the controversy as the Court had to confront it: a document that looks compliant on paper, met with evidence suggesting the legal safeguards may never have operated in real life.

Core Disputes and Claims

The core legal focus was whether the financial agreement was binding under Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 90G, and if not, whether the Court should nonetheless declare it binding under s 90G(1A) because it would be unjust and inequitable for it not to bind.

Within that overarching question, the practical disputes were:

1. Whether the Applicant signed the agreement with a real understanding of its nature and effect.
2. Whether the Applicant was provided with independent legal advice, before signing, about the effect of the agreement on her rights and the advantages and disadvantages at the time, as required by s 90G(1)(b).
3. Whether any advice was meaningfully tailored to the Applicant’s circumstances, including her likely entitlements under s 79, and whether the advice was independent in substance rather than merely in form.
4. Whether the surrounding credibility landscape, including the Respondent’s admitted conduct in separate proceedings, should affect the weight placed on his version of events when the evidence diverged.
5. Whether the Court should exercise the s 90G(1A) discretion to “save” an agreement that fails one or more of the formal requirements, and what “unjust and inequitable” means in this context.

Relief sought, in substance:

• The Applicant sought to avoid the agreement’s operation so that the Court could proceed to property adjustment under s 79, and she also sought leave to commence property proceedings out of time under s 44(3) in the wider proceeding.
• The Respondent sought a declaration that the agreement was binding, with the practical consequence that s 71A would exclude the Court’s jurisdiction to make s 79 property adjustment orders.

Chapter 2: Origin of the Case

The story begins in 1997. The parties met in Country C and married that year after the Applicant migrated to Australia. English was the Applicant’s second language, a fact that later became a live forensic issue because financial agreements in family law are document-heavy and legally technical.

The marriage operated across two geographical and financial centres:

• In Australia, the Respondent ran and managed a business interest through a company, with commercial premises later purchased in his sole name. The parties worked in the enterprise during the relationship.
• In Country C, the Applicant increasingly undertook the practical work of managing and maintaining assets and later establishing a business entity at the Respondent’s request, travelling overseas regularly while the Respondent remained in Sydney.

The relationship’s financial narrative was not a neat suburban story of two spouses jointly building one home. It was a transnational arrangement: one spouse anchored in Sydney’s daily operations, the other moving between countries to maintain overseas assets and business activities. In family law, that kind of arrangement matters because it shapes contributions evidence and affects how each party might understand their rights and vulnerabilities.

Against that background, early 2017 became the turning point.

The Respondent asserted the parties separated in March 2017. The Applicant asserted they did not separate until June 2022, when she finally left the Respondent’s property and stayed with her adult son from a prior relationship. This disagreement about separation was not merely emotional. It influenced how a reader might interpret the meaning and timing of documents said to be executed in 2017, including a separation declaration attached to the financial agreement.

In early 2017, the financial agreement was signed. It was in English and detailed the parties’ assets, liabilities, and an arrangement that each retain their respective property with only nominal consideration between them and an exclusion of spousal maintenance. Importantly, it also contained certificates stating that each party had received independent legal advice under s 90G. On paper, it looked like a standard “private ordering” document designed to keep the Court out.

But the Applicant’s narrative of how her signature came to be on the document was starkly different.

The Applicant’s evidence described a scene at the business premises in which men in suits spoke with the Respondent for a period, and then the Applicant was called over to sign something she was told related to “tax”. She described being directed where to sign, being prevented from reading the document, and later being told the paper had been returned to those men. She said she did not knowingly sign a financial agreement, did not attend a solicitor’s office in the suburb identified in the agreement’s witness clauses, did not receive legal advice, and did not pay fees to the solicitor who purportedly gave advice.

Years passed. In 2018, a divorce application was filed, and a divorce order was ultimately made. The Applicant later said she did not know about the divorce until she returned to Australia in mid-2022 and was told by the Respondent. By that stage, the parties’ personal circumstances had become entangled with other serious events, including criminal charges faced by the Applicant in mid-2022 which were later dismissed.

In June 2023, the Applicant commenced property proceedings, seeking leave out of time under s 44(3) and substantive relief for a property adjustment. The Respondent responded by producing the financial agreement and seeking to hold the Applicant to it.

That set up the “separate issues hearing” model: before the Court could even begin the usual four-step property settlement reasoning under s 79, it had to decide whether the Court’s jurisdiction was ousted by s 71A because a binding financial agreement existed.

This is the procedural posture that practitioners should notice. The “origin story” is not only factual. It is strategic. If a financial agreement is binding, the property case may be stopped at the gate. If it is not binding, the gate opens and the parties return to orthodox property settlement litigation.

Chapter 3: Key Evidence and Core Disputes

Applicant’s Main Evidence and Arguments

1. The Applicant’s affidavit evidence that she had never knowingly signed a financial agreement and had not met the solicitor who purportedly provided independent advice.
2. Evidence that she never attended the solicitor’s office said to be the location of advice and witnessing.
3. Evidence that she never paid money to that solicitor and never received advice about the effect of the agreement on her legal rights or the advantages and disadvantages of signing it.
4. Evidence about her English-language limitations, supported by her testimony with an interpreter and her description of being able to manage simple English but not government or legal documents.
5. The Applicant’s narrative explanation for how her signature could be on the document: the “tax office” explanation, being told to sign without comprehension, and being prevented from reading.
6. Evidence challenging the plausibility of the asset schedules in the agreement, including an overseas “property” listed as hers that she did not legally own, and a statement that the Respondent had contributed to the purchase of that property.
7. Subpoena evidence directed to the solicitor said to have advised her, including what documents were actually produced in response, and the quality and detail of any file record.

Respondent’s Main Evidence and Arguments

1. Reliance on the face of the financial agreement, including the executed statements under s 90G that purportedly certify legal advice was given.
2. Affidavit assertions that the parties separated in 2017 and agreed informally to keep property in their own names, with the agreement allegedly formalising that understanding.
3. Assertions that the Applicant wanted a solicitor of similar cultural background and with language capability, and that she met with the advising solicitor and had the agreement explained.
4. Evidence of an alleged post-signing conversation in which the Applicant said she understood and the solicitor spoke her language, used by the Respondent as a “confirmatory” narrative that advice was real.
5. Attempts to portray the Applicant’s English proficiency as high, including assertions she read newspapers fluently and managed invoices and accounts for the business.
6. In oral evidence, evolving explanations about how the divorce documentation was completed, and how the Respondent came to sign for the Applicant in earlier proceedings, which became relevant to credibility assessments.

Core Dispute Points

The decisive contest did not centre on whether the document bore signatures. It centred on whether the statutory safeguards that make a financial agreement binding actually occurred.

The modular dispute points were:

1. Legal advice reality: Did the Applicant receive the advice required by s 90G(1)(b) before signing, in a way that was real, meaningful, and tied to her circumstances?
2. Independence reality: Even if words were spoken, was the advice independent, or was the advising solicitor effectively aligned with the Respondent through referral arrangement, payment source, or conduct inconsistent with a genuine solicitor-client relationship?
3. Language and comprehension: Was the agreement explained in a way that a person with the Applicant’s language profile could understand, and was any suggestion it was explained in her native language true?
4. Documentary reliability: What weight should be given to a certificate that appears compliant, when the underlying file record is sparse and the advising solicitor cannot recall or explain core elements of the advice?
5. Credibility as a forensic lens: Where the Respondent’s evidence conflicts with the Applicant’s, should the Court accept the Respondent’s account without independent corroboration, given proven dishonesty in another court process?
6. The “rescue” discretion: If s 90G requirements are not satisfied, would it be unjust and inequitable within s 90G(1A) to let the agreement fail?

Chapter 4: Statements in Affidavits

Affidavits in family law do not merely list facts. They build a story the Court can test. In this case, the affidavits performed sharply different rhetorical functions.

The Applicant’s affidavit strategy was built around a credibility backbone and a practical-life explanation. The Applicant did not argue in abstract legal terms. She anchored the Court in concrete experiences: where she was living, where she had never been, what she was told, what she signed, and why she later felt worried about the unknown document. In litigation terms, it was a narrative designed to be internally consistent and externally plausible. The Applicant also connected her account to structural vulnerabilities: English as a second language and reliance on the Respondent for explanation in Australian systems.

The Respondent’s affidavit strategy was almost the reverse. It sought to use the formal document itself as the main anchor. The affidavit was brief and relied on the existence of certificates as a proxy for compliance. Where narrative detail appeared, it often took the form of short “conversation reconstructions” presented as if they were natural confirmatory moments. A single exchange after the alleged signing conference was used to suggest the Applicant understood and had advice in her language.

The deeper forensic issue is this: affidavits can appear neat precisely because they omit the messy steps. Here, the Respondent’s affidavit contained limited detail about how the list of assets was compiled, how values were reached, how the Applicant’s advising solicitor was sourced, and how the Respondent could confidently depose to what happened in the Applicant’s advice conference if he was not present.

This is where the Court’s procedural handling mattered.

The parties adopted a separate issues hearing structure. That is a case-management decision with strategic implications. It compresses the trial into a narrow question: binding or not binding. It also pushes parties to put their best evidence forward on the safeguard question rather than letting it dissolve into the usual broad property settlement dispute.

The strategic intent behind the Court’s directions can be understood in three ways:

1. Efficiency: If the agreement is binding, a large portion of the property litigation may become unnecessary.
2. Forensic clarity: Narrowing issues forces parties to confront the specific statutory criteria rather than arguing fairness in the abstract.
3. Evidence discipline: When only compliance is in issue, affidavit drafting that avoids details becomes risky. The Court is more likely to scrutinise gaps, inconsistencies, and missing corroboration.

In this matter, the separate issues model meant the affidavits were not the end of the evidentiary story. They were the starting lines for cross-examination, subpoena production, and credibility testing in a tightly framed contest.

Chapter 5: Court Orders

Before final determination of the separate issue, the matter progressed through procedural arrangements typical of a contested financial agreement dispute:

1. A separate issues hearing was set to determine whether the alleged financial agreement was binding, before any final property adjustment was attempted.
2. The parties prepared and tendered an agreed document framing the factual and legal issues for determination, including questions about understanding, explanation, place of signing, statutory binding requirements, and the forensic relevance of perceived fairness.
3. Subpoena processes were deployed to test the reliability of the “independent advice” narrative, including a subpoena directed to the solicitor who purportedly advised the Applicant, seeking file notes, invoices, correspondence, and records.
4. A Notice of Objection was filed by the subpoenaed solicitor in relation to giving evidence, and that issue was managed at the start of the hearing.
5. The hearing proceeded with cross-examination of the parties and the advising solicitor, and judicial case management occurred in real time, including the Judge intervening to ensure witnesses answered questions directly and precisely.

These procedural moves reveal the dispute’s true centre. In financial agreement litigation, the battle is often won or lost on the evidentiary infrastructure that sits behind a certificate: file notes, payment records, independence, language capacity, and whether the advising practitioner can articulate the statutory task they were meant to perform.

Chapter 6: Hearing Scene: Ultimate Showdown of Evidence and Logic

Process Reconstruction: Live Restoration

The hearing played like a collision between paper compliance and lived reality. The Court did not treat the financial agreement as a self-proving document. Instead, it treated it as a claim that needed to withstand the pressure of cross-examination, credibility assessment, and statutory interpretation.

The Respondent’s cross-examination was marked by non-responsive answers and shifting explanations. When confronted with inconsistencies, the Respondent frequently attempted to reframe questions or claimed not to understand comparatively simple propositions. These moments mattered because the case depended on whether the Court could safely accept the Respondent’s narrative where it conflicted with the Applicant’s.

The Applicant’s cross-examination, by contrast, was brief and steady. The Applicant gave evidence through an interpreter. Her answers were described as firm and consistent. She did not attempt to embellish. Her story remained essentially unchanged: she did not knowingly sign a financial agreement; she did not attend the advising solicitor’s office; she did not pay for advice; and she did not receive legal advice in the way required by the Act.

Then the hearing shifted into its most decisive theatre: the evidence of the solicitor said to have advised the Applicant.

That solicitor produced, in response to subpoena, only two documents: a copy of the executed agreement and a handwritten file note. The file note was sparse: it recorded a meeting, a basic description that each party keeps their own assets, and a payment amount. It did not record the Applicant’s contributions, her likely s 79 entitlements, the advantages and disadvantages, or any substantive comparison between the agreement and her rights under the Act.

Under cross-examination, the solicitor struggled to recall key matters. He gave evidence about reading a lengthy agreement in a very short time, about the conference lasting only 30 to 40 minutes, and about focusing on annexures as the “crucial part”. He conceded he did not speak the Applicant’s native language, contradicting the Respondent’s claim that the agreement was explained to the Applicant in that language.

The Judge’s interventions were significant. The Court insisted on precision, not rehearsed generalities. When the solicitor slipped into language like “I would have”, the Court required clarity about whether he actually remembered doing a thing, or was merely describing a standard practice.

These exchanges did more than embarrass a witness. They created the evidence pathway the Court needed to decide whether the statutory safeguard was satisfied in reality.

Core Evidence Confrontation: The Decisive Clashes

The decisive confrontations can be grouped into five evidence collisions:

1. Language collision: The Respondent asserted the Applicant received an explanation in her native language. The solicitor conceded he did not speak that language and did not hold himself out as doing so.
2. Time and capacity collision: The solicitor claimed an ability to power-read the agreement in minutes and advise effectively within a short conference, despite the agreement’s length and complexity.
3. Rights identification collision: The solicitor could not articulate the concept of s 75(2) factors and did not take instructions about contributions and entitlements needed to advise on the effect of the agreement on rights under s 79.
4. Independence collision: The solicitor’s engagement was arranged through the Respondent’s solicitor; the file note was created and scanned for the Respondent’s solicitor; the payment pathway was unclear and the Court accepted the Applicant’s evidence she did not pay.
5. Credibility collision: The Respondent’s admitted forging of signatures in divorce documents created a forensic environment in which the Court was not prepared to accept his uncorroborated evidence where it conflicted with the Applicant’s.

Judicial Reasoning: How Facts Drove the Result

The Court’s reasoning moved through a disciplined chain:

1. Identify the statutory requirements for a binding financial agreement under s 90G(1).
2. Allocate onus: the party relying on the agreement bears the onus of establishing compliance with the requirements, including independent legal advice under s 90G(1)(b).
3. Treat the certificate as prima facie evidence but not conclusive, and allow it to be rebutted by evidence.
4. Assess credibility and reliability: where evidence conflicts, weigh the witnesses and corroboration.
5. Decide whether the evidence demonstrates that advice required by s 90G(1)(b) was actually provided to the Applicant in a real and meaningful way, and whether it was independent.
6. If not, consider whether s 90G(1A) should be invoked to declare the agreement binding, applying the “unjust and inequitable” test and exercising discretion.

The reasoning was not driven by a desire to reach a particular moral outcome. It was driven by the logic of a legislative safeguard: Parliament permits parties to opt out of Court-supervised property adjustment, but only if the statutory advice protections are genuinely met.

The Court’s analysis was also shaped by the reality that financial agreements can be powerful tools, and therefore can become powerful instruments of exploitation if the advice safeguard is treated as a mere formality.

Judicial Original Quotation Principle: Determinative Dicta

The requirement for legal advice is an important legislative safeguard.

This statement was determinative because it framed the Court’s approach to s 90G(1)(b) as more than a box-ticking exercise. It justified a close examination of whether advice was real, meaningful, and independent, rather than merely certified.

Having regard to the conceded forging of documents… where the evidence of the Respondent conflicts with the evidence of the Applicant I accept the evidence of the Applicant. I do not accept the evidence of the Respondent unless it is corroborated by independent evidence.

This was determinative because it set the evidentiary lens through which every contested factual issue was viewed. Once the Court adopted this credibility framework, the Respondent could not carry his onus by assertion alone.

I am not satisfied, despite the certificate… that any advice received… was independent within the meaning of s 90G… Any appointment was arranged by the Respondent’s solicitor… if any fees were paid they originated from the Respondent… the file note… was for the purpose of providing it to the Respondent’s solicitor.

This was determinative because it exposed a structural problem: “independence” can fail even where a certificate exists, if the surrounding circumstances demonstrate a conflict of interest or the absence of a genuine, confidential solicitor-client relationship.

I find that the Applicant has established… that she did not receive, prior to her execution… the advice as prescribed by s 90G(1)(b).

This was determinative because it was the ultimate statutory finding that, once made, prevented the agreement from being binding under s 90G(1) and shifted the case into the discretionary “rescue” territory under s 90G(1A).

Any alleged prejudice… is of his own doing… Given the inadequate legal advice… it would be unjust and inequitable if I were to declare that the Financial Agreement was binding.

This was determinative because it resolved the last potential escape route for the Respondent: even though the Act allows a declaration under s 90G(1A), the Court exercised discretion against the Respondent in light of the surrounding facts and the nature of the non-compliance.

Chapter 7: Final Judgment of the Court

The Court made orders and directions that included:

1. A declaration that the financial agreement executed by the parties in early 2017 was not binding within the meaning of Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 90G.
2. A timetable for any party seeking costs of or incidental to the separate issues hearing to file an application and short supporting affidavit, with responses to follow, and determination on the papers unless an oral hearing was sought.
3. A direction for the Applicant to file and serve an amended initiating application particularising final relief sought in competent form.
4. A direction for the Respondent to file and serve any amended response.
5. A direction that the Respondent file short written submissions as to why his conceded conduct in forging the signature of the Applicant and a retired barrister on documents filed in the divorce process should not be referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions (New South Wales) for investigation and possible prosecution.
6. A listing of the substantive proceedings for further directions before a Judicial Registrar on 21 January 2025.

The declaration that the agreement was not binding meant the parties returned to the mainstream family law pathway: the Court retained jurisdiction to determine property adjustment issues under s 79, subject to any threshold issues such as leave out of time under s 44(3).

Chapter 8: In-depth Analysis of the Judgment: How Law and Evidence Lay the Foundation for Victory

Special Analysis: Jurisprudential Value and Unusual Features

This judgment has high jurisprudential value because it demonstrates, in a fact-rich way, how the “independent legal advice” safeguard is policed at ground level. It illustrates a central tension in Part VIIIA: the law allows private ordering without judicial supervision, and it will enforce even a bad bargain, but only if the statutory gateway is genuinely satisfied. The case is therefore a practical reminder that s 90G is not a decorative clause. It is the constitutional bolt holding the entire private-ordering structure together.

The unusual and instructive features include:

1. A direct credibility spillover from proven dishonesty in related family law litigation into the Court’s evaluation of contested facts in the financial agreement dispute. The judgment shows that where one party has admitted serious forensic dishonesty in dealings with the Court, the Court may demand corroboration before accepting that party’s evidence in another contested issue.
2. A forensic examination of “independence” that goes beyond whether the advising solicitor was formally separate. The Court examined the referral relationship, the payment source, the creation and transmission of the file note to the other party’s solicitor, and the uncertainty about who the solicitor regarded as the client.
3. A practical application of the modern understanding, endorsed in Dragomirov & Dragomirov [2024] FedCFamC1A 187, that advice must be real and meaningful in the Abrum & Abrum [2013] FamCA 897 sense, not merely the existence of a certificate.
4. A refusal to use the s 90G(1A) “rescue” discretion in circumstances where non-compliance was significant and the prejudice argument was self-inflicted by the party seeking to rely on the agreement.

The case is therefore a modern exemplar for practitioners: it shows what courts will scrutinise when the certificate is attacked, and it illustrates how a party can lose not because the document is missing, but because the evidence of the advice process is hollow.

Judgment Points: Noteworthy Judicial Logic and Comments

1. The Court distinguished between a certificate as prima facie evidence and the underlying statutory reality. Certificates can be rebutted. This reinforces Hoult v Hoult [2011] FamCA 1023 and the Full Court approach that the presumption is rebuttable as a matter of fact, not an irrebuttable rule of law.
2. The Court treated the advising solicitor’s lack of knowledge of s 75(2) factors as a red flag. This was not used to shame a practitioner; it was used to demonstrate that the advice could not have involved a real comparison of the agreement against the Applicant’s likely rights under s 79 and s 79(4), which is central to the Abrum analysis.
3. The Court identified that a financial agreement may be enforceable even if it is objectively unfair, but only when the safeguard is met. The case therefore teaches that “fairness” is not the binding test, but “advice compliance” is. This aligns with Hoult & Hoult (2013) FLC 93-546.
4. The Court considered that the existence of an overseas asset listed as belonging to the Applicant when she did not own it undermined the plausibility of the advice and signing narrative. It was a practical example of how inaccuracies in schedules can become credibility markers and can suggest a lack of meaningful inquiry.
5. The Court’s real-time management of witness answers shows an evidentiary method: it separated “I remember” from “I would have”, and treated that distinction as legally important because the statutory question concerns what was actually done before signing.
6. The Court refused the Respondent’s attempt to quarantine his admitted forensic dishonesty in the divorce process as irrelevant. The judgment demonstrates that courts may treat dishonesty towards the Court as a feature that affects the weight of evidence in other contested matters, even if the issues are doctrinally distinct.

Legal Basis: Statutory Provisions and How They Were Applied

The legal spine of the judgment was Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) ss 71A, 79, 90C, 90G and 90K, with s 44(3) sitting in the background as part of the wider proceeding.

1. Section 90C: provides the power for married parties to enter into a financial agreement during marriage. The Court proceeded on the basis that the document was styled as such and the dispute was about binding effect, not whether it was a financial agreement in form.
2. Section 90G(1): sets out when a financial agreement is binding, and the Court treated it as an “if, and only if” gateway. The key limb was s 90G(1)(b): before signing, each party must be provided with independent legal advice about the effect of the agreement on their rights and the advantages and disadvantages at the time.
3. Section 90G(1A): permits a court to declare an agreement binding even if one or more of the advice and statement requirements are not satisfied, if it would be unjust and inequitable if the agreement were not binding, and the court makes a declaration under s 90G(1B). The Court treated this as a discretionary mechanism, not a right.
4. Section 71A: provides that a binding financial agreement can exclude the court’s jurisdiction to make property adjustment orders under s 79. This is why the binding question was determinative at the threshold.
5. Section 79 and s 79(4) and s 75(2) concepts: not applied to adjust property in this judgment, but central to the analysis of what advice must involve. Under Abrum & Abrum [2013] FamCA 897, endorsed in Dragomirov & Dragomirov [2024] FedCFamC1A 187, advice about “effect on rights” requires some identification of likely rights under s 79, which in turn requires understanding contributions and future factors.
6. Section 90K: although the Applicant sought relief framed as setting aside under s 90K, the hearing’s focus, by agreement, was on s 90G binding compliance.

Comparable authorities that shaped the Court’s approach:

• Abrum & Abrum [2013] FamCA 897: established that advice must be real and meaningful, requiring identification of rights so that the party can compare entitlements with the agreement’s outcome.
• Dragomirov & Dragomirov [2024] FedCFamC1A 187: affirmed that Abrum’s articulation of advice content is correct, reinforcing that advice is not merely a formal recital.
• Hoult & Hoult (2013) FLC 93-546: reinforced the principle that parties may be held to a bad bargain, and that fairness is not a requirement for enforceability, but the statutory advice safeguard is fundamental.
• Wallace & Stelzer and Anor [2013] FamCAFC 199 and Logan & Logan [2013] FamCAFC 151: discussed earlier approaches focusing on whether advice was given rather than its content, contrasted by the more detailed Abrum-Dragomirov approach embraced in this reasoning.
• Parker & Parker (2012) FLC 93-499: explained the breadth of discretion under s 90G(1A) and how “unjust and inequitable” is distinct from s 79(2) “just and equitable”.
• Waterford v Commonwealth [1987] HCA 25: used as an authority for the concept of independence and conflict in advisory contexts.

Evidence Chain: Conclusion = Evidence + Statutory Provisions

The Court’s conclusion that the agreement was not binding was built on an evidence chain rather than a single “gotcha” fact.

Link 1: Onus and rebuttable presumption
– The Respondent bore the onus to prove compliance with s 90G(1)(b).
– The certificate was prima facie evidence but rebuttable (Hoult v Hoult [2011] FamCA 1023).

Link 2: Credibility and weight allocation
– The Respondent admitted forging signatures in divorce materials filed in Court, damaging his reliability.
– The Court adopted a corroboration requirement for accepting the Respondent’s contested assertions.

Link 3: Independence testing
– The advising solicitor’s appointment was arranged by the Respondent’s solicitor.
– The payment pathway was unclear, but the Applicant’s unchallenged evidence was she did not pay. The Court found, on balance, payment originated from the Respondent.
– The file note was prepared and transmitted for the Respondent’s solicitor, undermining confidentiality and independence.
– The solicitor’s evidence suggested uncertainty about who the client was, creating a practical conflict.

Link 4: Advice content testing under s 90G(1)(b)
– The solicitor did not speak the Applicant’s native language and could not have explained it in that language.
– The solicitor could not demonstrate he identified the Applicant’s rights under s 79, did not take instructions on contributions, and did not know s 75(2) factors.
– The solicitor’s evidence about what was explained largely reduced to reading schedules and stating “he keeps his, she keeps hers”.
– The agreement contained improbable or inaccurate schedule content, suggesting a lack of meaningful inquiry.

Link 5: Statement provision issues
– There was no reliable evidence the Applicant received the signed statement or her copy of the agreement at the time.

Link 6: s 90G(1A) discretion
– The Respondent argued it would be unjust and inequitable for the agreement not to bind because time had passed and evidence was unavailable.
– The Court rejected this, noting any prejudice was self-inflicted and the non-compliance was significant.

This chain produced a legally orthodox endpoint: non-compliance with s 90G(1)(b) meant the agreement could not be binding under s 90G(1), and the Court declined to declare it binding under s 90G(1A).

Judicial Original Quotation: Ratio-Driving Passages

Section 90G(1)… sets out each and all the requirements that must be met for a financial agreement to be binding… There is no requirement that the terms… be just and equitable; a party will be held to a bad bargain… The requirement for legal advice is an important legislative safeguard.

This is the ratio-driving framework. It explains why the Court focused on advice compliance rather than “fairness”, and why failure of advice was fatal despite the agreement’s formal appearance.

I accept the Applicant’s evidence… The Respondent has admitted to forging… and fraudulently relying upon those signatures to obtain a divorce order… The Respondent’s evidence was contradictory and inconsistent.

This passage matters because it justifies the Court’s later refusal to accept uncorroborated evidence from the Respondent on the financial agreement’s signing narrative. It is a concrete example of how credibility findings can shape outcomes in statutory compliance disputes.

I find… that the Applicant did not receive… the advice as prescribed by s 90G(1)(b).

This is the decisive factual and legal finding. Once made, it negates binding effect under s 90G(1) and shifts the analysis to the s 90G(1A) discretion.

Given the inadequate legal advice… I find that it would be unjust and inequitable if I were to declare that the Financial Agreement was binding.

This is the determinative discretionary conclusion. It demonstrates that s 90G(1A) is not a free pass for agreements that fail safeguards, particularly where the non-compliance is substantial.

Analysis of the Losing Party’s Failure

The Respondent’s failure was not simply that he faced a sceptical judge. It was structural and evidentiary.

1. The Respondent carried the onus. Relying on a certificate was not enough once the Applicant produced evidence undermining the advice process.
2. The Respondent’s credibility was severely damaged by admitted forgery in court documents. That meant the Court demanded corroboration for contested assertions.
3. The Respondent did not call available corroborating witnesses who could have strengthened the advice narrative, and the advising solicitor’s evidence did not fill the gap.
4. The advising solicitor’s file record was minimal, and his oral evidence revealed an inability to explain core statutory concepts, including s 75(2), and a lack of evidence that he identified the Applicant’s s 79 rights.
5. The independence of advice was compromised by the referral and payment circumstances, and by the creation and transmission of the file note for the other side’s solicitor.
6. The Respondent’s attempt to rely on s 90G(1A) was undermined by the scale of non-compliance and by the Court’s view that any prejudice was self-created.

In practical terms, the Respondent failed because he treated s 90G as a paperwork requirement, when the Court treated it as a lived safeguard that must withstand scrutiny.

Key to Victory: What Carried the Successful Party

The Applicant’s success was driven by:

1. Consistent and credible evidence about lack of knowledge, lack of advice, and language limitations.
2. Use of subpoena to test the advice infrastructure, exposing sparse records and weak recollection.
3. Forensic focus on s 90G’s statutory elements rather than arguing fairness as a standalone concept.
4. Exploiting internal inconsistencies and implausibilities in the Respondent’s narrative, especially on language and on the circumstances of signing.
5. Leveraging credibility findings arising from the Respondent’s admitted dishonesty in court processes to ensure the Court did not accept contested assertions without corroboration.

Reference to Comparable Authorities: Ratio Decidendi Summaries

Abrum & Abrum [2013] FamCA 897
Ratio summary: Advice under s 90G(1)(b) must be real and meaningful and directed to the parties’ circumstances. To advise on the effect of an agreement on rights, a practitioner must identify the party’s rights under the Act, requiring at least a general understanding of the property pool, contributions, and relevant factors, so the party can compare entitlements with the proposed agreement.

Dragomirov & Dragomirov [2024] FedCFamC1A 187
Ratio summary: The appellate authority affirmed the correctness of the Abrum approach to the content and purpose of advice under s 90G(1)(b), reinforcing that compliance is substantive, not merely formal.

Hoult & Hoult (2013) FLC 93-546
Ratio summary: A financial agreement does not need to be just and equitable to be binding; parties may be held to a bad bargain. However, the statutory safeguards, including the advice requirement, are central to enforceability and cannot be treated lightly.

Parker & Parker (2012) FLC 93-499
Ratio summary: The Court’s discretion under s 90G(1A) is broad once preconditions are met, and “unjust and inequitable” is not the same as the s 79(2) just and equitable inquiry. The focus is on whether it would be unjust and inequitable for the agreement not to bind, informed by the nature and extent of non-compliance and surrounding circumstances.

Hoult v Hoult [2011] FamCA 1023
Ratio summary: A signed statement of advice can be prima facie evidence that advice was provided, but it is a rebuttable presumption of fact. The Court may accept evidence that the presumption is inaccurate.

Implications: Five Practical Takeaways for the General Public

1. A signature on paper is not the end of the story. In serious legal documents, the law often demands that the process around the signature is fair and lawful, especially where the document can permanently change your rights. If you did not receive genuine advice, you may still have options, but you need evidence, not just suspicion.
2. Independent advice is meant to protect you, not decorate the document. If the “independent” adviser is arranged by the other side, paid by the other side, and sends their file note to the other side, the risk of a compromised process is relatively high. If you ever feel rushed or handled like a formality, slow the process down.
3. Language vulnerability is real in legal systems. If English is not your first language, insist on an adviser who can communicate in a way you truly understand, and insist on time to read. A document you cannot explain back in your own words is a warning sign.
4. Your case can rise or fall on records. Keep emails, receipts, messages, and copies of what you sign. If someone tells you a document is “just tax” or “just administration”, treat that as a red flag and demand a copy.
5. Dishonesty in court processes tends to spread like ink. If a person is proven to have lied to a court in one context, it can affect how a court evaluates their evidence elsewhere. Courts are not naïve about patterns. Truth has momentum; deception has consequences.

Q&A Session

Q1: If a financial agreement contains a solicitor’s certificate, does that automatically mean it is binding?
A: Not automatically. A certificate may be prima facie evidence, but it can be challenged. If evidence shows the advice did not occur, was not independent, or was not the kind of advice required by s 90G(1)(b), the agreement may be found not binding.

Q2: What does “independent legal advice” practically require in a financial agreement context?
A: It requires more than a meeting and a signature. Advice should be directed to the person’s rights under the Act and should explain the effect of the agreement on those rights and the advantages and disadvantages at the time. Independence also requires the adviser to act solely for the client, free from conflict, and consistent with a genuine solicitor-client relationship.

Q3: Why did the Court consider the Respondent’s forged divorce filings relevant to the financial agreement dispute?
A: Because credibility is a central judicial task. When two witnesses give conflicting accounts and one has admitted serious dishonesty in documents filed in court, the Court may require corroboration before accepting that person’s evidence. That credibility approach can be decisive in statutory compliance disputes where the onus lies on the person relying on the document.

Appendix: Reference for Comparable Case Judgments and Practical Guidelines

1. Practical Positioning of This Case

Case Subtype

Family Law — Part VIIIA Financial Agreement (s 90C) — Binding validity dispute under s 90G, including independence and adequacy of advice; threshold jurisdiction issue under s 71A before s 79 property adjustment.

Judgment Nature Definition

Final judgment on a separate issues hearing determining the binding status of the financial agreement, with consequential procedural directions for the continuation of the substantive property proceeding.

2. Self-examination of Core Statutory Elements

This section provides structured reference tests relevant to family law disputes. These are for reference only and tend to be determined by the specific facts, evidence quality, and statutory context of each case.

Core Test Standard for Binding Financial Agreements: Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 90G(1)

Step 1: Confirm the agreement is signed by all parties
– The signature requirement is foundational. If a party did not sign, binding effect under s 90G(1) cannot be established.

Step 2: Confirm independent legal advice was provided to each party before signing, as required by s 90G(1)(b)
– The advice must cover the effect of the agreement on the party’s rights. In practical terms, this usually requires identifying what rights the party would have under s 79 if the agreement did not exist.
– The advice must cover the advantages and disadvantages, at the time, of entering the agreement. That requires a comparison between outcomes with and without the agreement, not merely a generic warning.
– Advice should be directed to the party’s circumstances. Under Abrum & Abrum [2013] FamCA 897, as affirmed in Dragomirov & Dragomirov [2024] FedCFamC1A 187, advice tends to be inadequate if it does not identify property, contributions, and relevant factors informing likely rights.

Step 3: Confirm signed statements of advice were provided, as required by s 90G(1)(c) and s 90G(1)(ca)
– Each party must be given a signed statement from the legal practitioner confirming the advice was provided.
– A copy of the statement given to one party must be provided to the other party or their legal practitioner.
– Delay in exchange can create argument about proper construction and practical compliance, especially where it undermines the safeguard function.

Step 4: Confirm the agreement has not been terminated and has not been set aside
– Binding effect also depends on the agreement remaining on foot and not being set aside under s 90K.

Core Test Standard for the “Rescue” Declaration: Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 90G(1A)

Step 1: Confirm the agreement is signed by all parties
– If not signed, s 90G(1A) cannot apply.

Step 2: Identify which of s 90G(1)(b), (c), (ca) are not satisfied
– The Court must identify the precise compliance failure.

Step 3: Determine whether it would be unjust and inequitable if the agreement were not binding
– This is not the same as the s 79(2) just and equitable inquiry. The Court tends to focus on the nature and extent of non-compliance and the surrounding circumstances, including how the agreement was made and performed, as discussed in Parker & Parker (2012) FLC 93-499 and Hoult & Hoult (2013) FLC 93-546.
– Serious non-compliance, especially where the advice safeguard is effectively absent, tends to weigh against making a declaration.

Step 4: Exercise discretion and, if appropriate, make a declaration under s 90G(1B)
– Even if the threshold is met, the Court still exercises discretion.

Core Test (Existence of De Facto Relationship — Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 4AA Factors)

This case concerned a marriage, not a de facto relationship. The following is included as a practical reference because family law property disputes frequently require correct characterisation of relationship status in other matters.

Duration of the relationship: The relationship duration is relevant, with a general threshold of 2 years for certain de facto property claims unless exceptions apply.
Nature and extent of common residence: Whether the parties lived together, and whether cohabitation was continuous.
Whether a sexual relationship exists: Whether a sexual relationship existed or exists.
Degree of financial dependence or interdependence: Whether there were financial support arrangements or pooling of resources.
Ownership, use and acquisition of property: Whether assets were acquired jointly or separately and how they were used.
Degree of mutual commitment to a shared life: Whether the relationship was casual, intermittent, or committed.
The care and support of children: Whether the parties cared for children.
Reputation and public aspects of the relationship: Whether the relationship was presented publicly as a couple relationship.
Any other relevant circumstance: The statutory inquiry is evaluative and contextual, not mechanical.

Property Settlement: The Four-Step Process Under s 79 and Related Principles

Step 1 — Identification and Valuation
– Identify the asset pool, liabilities, and superannuation interests, including overseas property where relevant.
– Valuation should be supported by evidence, and disputes about ownership and control must be clarified.

Step 2 — Assessment of Contributions
– Financial contributions at commencement, during the relationship, and post-separation.
– Non-financial contributions, including work in businesses, renovations, and asset maintenance.
– Contributions to the welfare of the family, including homemaking and caregiving responsibilities.

Step 3 — Adjustment for Future Needs: s 75(2) Factors
– Consider age, health, income-earning capacity, care of children, and disparity in resources.
– The weight given to each factor tends to be evidence-driven and case-specific.

Step 4 — Just and Equitable Requirement: s 79(2)
– The Court must be satisfied the proposed orders are just and equitable in all the circumstances.

Parenting Matters: Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 60CC Framework

This case had no children of the relationship, so parenting was not in issue. It is included here as a reference framework commonly encountered in family law litigation.

Primary Considerations:
– The benefit to the child of having a meaningful relationship with both parents.
– The need to protect the child from physical or psychological harm, with protection from harm given greater weight.

Additional Considerations:
– The views expressed by the child, having regard to maturity and level of understanding.
– The capacity of each parent to provide for the child’s needs.
– Practical difficulty and expense of a child spending time with and communicating with a parent.

3. Equitable Remedies and Alternative Claims

In family law disputes, equitable doctrines can sometimes provide alternative or additional pathways where statutory avenues are constrained, or where the real dispute concerns beneficial ownership rather than merely discretionary adjustment.

These are reference pathways only and tend to be determined by evidence strength and overall context.

Promissory and Proprietary Estoppel

Core inquiry:
– Did one party make a clear and unequivocal promise or representation about property or financial outcomes?
– Did the other party act in reliance on that promise to their detriment, such as renovating, working without pay, or foregoing opportunities?
– Would it be unconscionable for the promisor to depart from the promise?

Practical relevance:
– Where a financial agreement fails or is not binding, parties sometimes attempt to rely on estoppel to prove a beneficial interest or to resist an inequitable outcome.

Unjust Enrichment and Constructive Trust

Core inquiry:
– Did one party receive a benefit at the other’s expense, such as labour in a business, mortgage payments, or improvements to property?
– Is retention of the benefit without compensation against conscience?
– Is a constructive trust or equitable accounting an appropriate remedy?

Practical relevance:
– Particularly relevant where property is in one name but the other party contributed substantially.
– Evidence should ideally include payments, work records, communications, and witness corroboration.

Equity as a Counter-attack When Statutory Law is Constrained

If a party is faced with a time-limit barrier, incomplete documentation, or a formal instrument that fails statutory requirements, equitable arguments may sometimes operate alongside statutory relief. However, equity is not a guaranteed substitute for statutory pathways; it tends to be fact-sensitive and can carry significant litigation risk without strong records.

4. Access Thresholds and Exceptional Circumstances

Regular Thresholds

Property proceedings time limit after divorce:
– For married parties, applications for property settlement or spousal maintenance generally must be commenced within 12 months after a divorce order takes effect, pursuant to Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 44(3), unless leave is granted.

Binding financial agreement gateway:
– If a financial agreement is binding under s 90G, it tends to exclude s 79 jurisdiction via s 71A.

Exceptional Channels

Leave out of time:
– The Court may grant leave under s 44(3) where hardship would otherwise be caused. Hardship tends to require more than inconvenience and is assessed on evidence.

Challenges to financial agreements:
– If an agreement is not binding under s 90G, jurisdiction is not ousted and the matter tends to proceed to s 79.
– If an agreement is binding, a party may still attempt to set it aside under s 90K on recognised grounds, depending on evidence.

Suggestion:
– Do not abandon a potential claim solely because a document exists or a time limit has passed. The key is careful comparison of your circumstances against statutory gateways and exception pathways, supported by documents and credible testimony.

5. Guidelines for Judicial and Legal Citation

Citation Angle

It is recommended to cite this authority in submissions involving:
– The evidentiary and substantive meaning of “independent legal advice” in s 90G(1)(b) disputes.
– The rebuttable nature of certificates and the forensic importance of file records and practitioner evidence.
– The discretionary refusal of relief under s 90G(1A) where non-compliance is significant and surrounding circumstances weigh against enforcement.
– The practical relevance of credibility findings to contested statutory compliance issues.

Citation Method

As Positive Support:
– Where your matter involves a challenge to a financial agreement based on advice inadequacy or lack of independence, citing Chetri & Thapa [2024] FedCFamC2F 1611 can support a submission that the Court must examine the reality of compliance rather than the face of a certificate, particularly where file notes are sparse and advice did not address rights under s 79.

As a Distinguishing Reference:
– If the opposing party cites this case, you may distinguish it by showing strong contemporaneous records, clear evidence of independence, robust advice addressing entitlements, and a stable credibility landscape.

Anonymisation Rule:
– In your own narrative and submissions, strictly use procedural titles such as Applicant and Respondent, unless the published judgment itself uses pseudonyms in a way necessary for accurate citation.

Conclusion

Chetri & Thapa [2024] FedCFamC2F 1611 is a modern reminder that private agreements in family law are only as strong as the statutory safeguards that support them. A certificate may open the door, but evidence decides whether the door stays open. The Court’s approach shows that independence, meaningful advice, and credible evidence are not optional extras; they are the foundation stones of enforceable private ordering.

Everyone needs to understand the law and see the world through the lens of law. The in-depth analysis of this authentic judgment is intended to help everyone gradually establish a new legal mindset: True self-protection stems from the early understanding and mastery of legal rules.

Disclaimer

This article is based on the study and analysis of the public judgment of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Chetri & Thapa [2024] FedCFamC2F 1611), aimed at promoting legal research and public understanding. The citation of relevant judgment content is limited to the scope of fair dealing for the purposes of legal research, comment, and information sharing.

The analysis, structural arrangement, and expression of views contained in this article are the original content of the author, and the copyright belongs to the author and this platform. This article does not constitute legal advice, nor should it be regarded as legal advice for any specific situation.

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