How Financial Disclosure Works in a BFA
Full and honest disclosure is not just good practice — it is what makes a financial agreement stand up.
What financial disclosure means
Financial disclosure means each partner honestly and completely revealing their financial position to the other before signing a Binding Financial Agreement. This includes assets, liabilities, income, business interests, superannuation, expected inheritances, and any other financially material information.
Disclosure is not about reaching agreement on who gets what — that comes later. It is about making sure both partners are making an informed decision with an accurate picture of the full financial situation.
Why it matters legally
A BFA can be set aside by a court if one partner failed to disclose a material financial matter. This is one of the most common grounds for challenging a financial agreement.
The Family Law Act treats non-disclosure seriously because the entire premise of a BFA is that both parties are knowingly agreeing to financial arrangements. If one party's picture was incomplete or misleading, the other party was not truly informed when they signed.
This protection applies even if the other party had independent legal advice — disclosure and legal advice are separate requirements that both must be satisfied.
What needs to be disclosed
Disclosure should cover:
• All property — real estate, vehicles, valuable personal items, collectibles • Bank accounts, savings, and cash • Investments — shares, managed funds, bonds • Superannuation balances across all funds • Business interests — companies, partnerships, trusts you are involved with • Debts — mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, business debts, tax debts, guarantees • Income — employment income, business income, investment income, rental income • Expected inheritances or gifts — even if uncertain, these should be noted
The test is materiality. If a reasonable person would consider the information relevant to deciding whether to sign the agreement, it should be disclosed.
Does everything need an exact value?
Not always. For many assets — particularly superannuation, businesses, and investment properties — an exact valuation at the time of the agreement may not be available or practical.
What matters is that each item is disclosed and described accurately. Where a precise value is not known, a reasonable estimate with an explanation is acceptable. What is not acceptable is omitting assets entirely or deliberately understating their significance.
If significant uncertainty exists around asset values — for example, a business at an early stage with an unclear value — this should be noted in the agreement and discussed with your lawyer.
How Prenuply handles disclosure
Prenuply's guided questionnaire takes each partner through a structured disclosure process covering all major asset and liability categories. Each partner completes their section independently.
Once both partners have completed the questionnaire, Prenuply generates a disclosure summary that the couple reviews together. This gives both partners a clear view of the combined financial picture before the documents go to lawyers.
This structured approach to disclosure is one of the main ways Prenuply reduces the cost and time of the traditional lawyer-led process — the financial information is organised before lawyers are involved, which means lawyer time is spent on advice, not information gathering.