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Australian Family Lawyers
Legal protection for family loans, financial gifts, and personal contributions to property.
Book a consultationAsset Protection: Protect What You Lend or Gift
When you’re lending or gifting money to a loved one, it’s important to ensure your generosity is protected. Whether you’re assisting a child with a home deposit, supporting a partner, or contributing to a family property, a verbal agreement often isn’t enough.
Our Asset Protect package provides legally binding solutions to protect your financial contribution from risks like relationship breakdowns, business insolvency, or family disputes.
With offices across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra, Gold Coast, and Darwin, the teams at Australian Family Lawyers make it simple and quick to safeguard your support.
How does Asset Protect work?
Once complete the advance used to acquire the property is safeguarded as a secured loan with priority against unsecured creditors and respected by the Courts as a genuine liability protected from claims to entitlement in relationship breakdowns. If a dispute arises you have secured the advance and can seek its recovery pursuant to the terms of the contract security.
Why the Bank of Mum and Dad are turning to Asset Protection Lawyers
Parents wanting their children on the housing ladder have supported them by becoming a guarantor on home loans and/or offering loans or gifts to fund their deposits and some parents have even bought their children houses outright. A survey conducted in May 2021, showed up to 60% of parents surveyed considered helping their children buy a home. The Bank of Mum and Dad is widely recognised as the ninth biggest lender in Australia.
There are 3 dynamics leading to a rise in the need for Asset Protect
House prices – Australian house prices are reported by Domain to have reached $955,927 in August’21, up 5.8% for the quarter and 18.8% over the year. Many people cannot afford their first home without the support of the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’. Capital City price growth will be between 15% to 25% this year (2021).
Relationship and market dynamics – 50% of the legal relationships in Australia fail (many within the first 2 years) Business risk is higher in the current Covid environment with many sadly failing during the last 18 months. When the unexpected happens, advances made by the parents can simply be absorbed by other third-party creditors.
Intergenerational wealth transfer – there are five million Baby Boomers in Australia who are attributed with 53% of the nation’s wealth. Many parents are now gifting, loaning, or advancing their children a deposit or a full house price to help them secure a stake in the property market.
Securing advice now prevents regret later on and ensures your valued gift is protected. Speak to one of our specialist asset protection lawyers regarding Asset Protect today.
Why choose Australian Family Lawyers for asset protection?
At Australian Family Lawyers, we understand that lending or gifting money to loved ones can feel deeply personal, and raising the idea of a legal agreement can feel uncomfortable. That’s why our Asset Protect service is designed to be simple, respectful, and clear.
Clients across Australia choose us for:
- Focusing on Family Financial Matters – We’re one of the largest family law firms in the country, with extensive experience helping families structure loans, gifts, and property contributions to avoid future disputes.
- Nationwide Support – With offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Darwin, Canberra, the Gold Coast and beyond – plus remote consults available – we provide trusted legal protection wherever you are in Australia.
- Clear, Legally Binding Agreements – We draft agreements that reflect your intentions and are recognised by courts, helping prevent claims, confusion, or financial loss if circumstances change.
- Our Attitude Toward Dispute Prevention First – Our approach is preventative, not reactive. We help you get it right from the start, so you don’t need to fight for your financial security later.
- Supportive, No-Judgment Guidance – We understand that protecting family loans isn’t about mistrust, it’s about clarity and protecting relationships. We’ll help you approach it with confidence and care.
Don’t leave your generosity unprotected. Book a consultation with our family law team and get the legal clarity you need.
03 9088 3184
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Law Firm of the Year
We are proud to announce we have been named as a finalist in the Australian Law Awards for Law Firm of the Years 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Award recipients represent a true cross section of the legal industry, recognising the contributions of the profession’s most senior ranks through to its rising stars.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Lending or gifting money to family is often done with good intentions, but without a written agreement, your contribution may not be legally recognised.
In family law, informal arrangements can easily be disputed, especially in the event of a relationship breakdown, financial hardship, or if the recipient enters into a marriage or de facto partnership. Legal protection ensures your contribution is respected, recoverable, and clearly documented in a way the courts will uphold.
There are several legal instruments we can use to protect your financial contribution, depending on the nature of the advance and your goals. These include:
- Loan Agreement – Clearly outlines the terms of the loan, including repayment timelines and any interest, and can be registered as a secured interest.
- Deed of Acknowledgment of Debt – A legal document that confirms money has been lent and is expected to be repaid.
- Declaration of Trust – Used when someone contributes funds toward a property they don’t legally own, to confirm their interest.
- Binding Financial Agreement (BFA) – Often used in relationships or marriages to define what happens to assets (including gifts or loans) if the relationship end
We’ll advise you on the best option based on your relationship to the borrower and the purpose of the advance.
Absolutely, and it’s often critical to do so. When you lend or gift money to someone who is, or later becomes, part of a marriage or de facto relationship, that money may be viewed as a shared contribution and subject to division in a separation.
With proper legal structuring, we can ensure the advance remains protected and not absorbed into a property settlement. It’s about securing your support without putting your family’s wealth at risk.
Even after the funds have been transferred, we can draft an agreement that confirms the nature of the transaction (loan or gift) and records the terms. This retroactive documentation can still carry weight in legal proceedings, especially when both parties agree on the intent and sign the agreement.
In family law, a gift is typically presumed to be non-repayable unless proven otherwise, while a loan is expected to be paid back, but only if there’s evidence supporting that expectation.
This means that without proper documentation, a court may decide your “loan” was actually a gift, especially if it went to a child or relative. Having a clear, signed legal agreement is the best way to ensure your intention, whether to gift or loan, is recognised and protected.
Do you have a question about family law or relationship law?
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