Chris regularly advises and represents many high net worth individuals with regard to relationship property. Often, this involves the parties contracting out of the provisions of the Relationship Property Act, protecting existing assets where there is an unequal contribution.
What happens at the end of a marriage or civil union often requires careful consideration, particularly as to how the relationship property between the spouses or partners will be divided. There is a presumption of equal sharing of all property acquired during the course of a relationship and one of the key issues is determining the value of that relationship property. If parties are unable to agree about that, it is often preferable (in order to avoid proceedings) to engage expert valuers so that the parties can quickly and confidently resolve that issue and subsequently resolve all the property issues between them. This can be particularly important when matrimonial property issues involve family trusts and companies.