The purpose of property settlement lawyers

It has been observed that quite often people prefer to handle their property settlement issues on their own. Statistical data has shown that on an average most individuals do not hire legal help for reasons related to ‘cost and added expenditure’.

This however, is quite far from the truth as many a times, hiring property lawyers can help a person get their ideal/fair share of entitlements (which otherwise might not be the case).

For example, in relation to the ‘cost issue’, we should note that sometimes high lawyer fees may be incurred. This however, is usually an exception rather than the rule. Large legal fees are only incurred in matters where the issue is heavily contested and there is an intractable dispute between many parties.

In most cases, where all of the involved people are aware of their individual entitlements, legal fees are quite low and can be found to contribute very nominally to the overall costs involved. In fact, in some cases the fee can be lower than the stamp duty that a ‘lawyer-assisted’ property settlement is usually exempt from.

Listed below are some of the areas where property settlement lawyers can help you:

1. Receiving full legal entitlement: sometimes property settlements can have an effect on our lives a few years down the line. This can be the case when assets are received in the form of hard cash or other items that may often be overvalued while settlement procedures are underway.
   Small details like inflation and other such factors may go ignored by the average person, but a property lawyer can look into such aspects and factor in this data while making settlement claims.
2. Promoting awareness of existing ‘Benefit Schemes’ to increase returns: while many people do their personalised research while filing for property claims, they often miss out on various governmental benefits that have been designed to encourage people to do their property settlements properly. One of the most overlooked aspects that many people miss out on is the ‘exemption of stamp duty’. For example, when a formal court order or binding agreement upon a property settlement case has been finalised, there is an option to obtain a full exemption from stamp duty on all residential and commercial properties.
3. Clear delineation of rules: while in recent times the rules in regards to Property Settlement Laws have been bolstered by the Australian Tax Office. There are still some opportunities to improve returns through the use of skilled and knowledgeable legal practitioners.
4. Setting up of realistic expectations: it is quite often the case that when people finally receive their settlements, they are disappointed by their final acquired assets. This is where a legal expert can help. A qualified property settlement lawyer can provide advice wherein realistic expectations can be set in relation to the returns to be expected. Also, most property lawyers recommend legal recourses to formalise our property settlement deals, so that there are no issues at a later stage.

What other aspects of property settlement can a lawyer help me with?

• Skilful negotiations: property negotiations can be quite hectic and have the potential to become intense in some cases. When there are family members/ close relatives involved, egos can become an issue and thus monetary disputes may become a big problem. This is a where a settlement lawyer can diffuse and effectively deal with the situation.
• Handling court proceedings: the biggest obstacle to property settlement proceedings is the fact that court hearings can be quite unnerving for many individuals. In such cases a legal hand can alleviate our concerns, and can help us get a better grip of how things may pan out.
• Probable alternatives: sometimes when all legal means of recourse have been exhausted, a property settlement lawyer can provide us with increasingly popular alternative means of resolution. These can include arbitration or collaborative law routes.
• Couple separation assistance: a major issue where settlements can play a large role are in cases of mutual separation/ divorce. When a couple splits, there can be a lot of emotional trauma that can destabilise mental health. Here a property settlement lawyer can help individuals come to amicable agreements in relation to their property and allow them to not have to deal with a whole host of unpleasant feelings.

Lastly

In closing, we can see that while property settlements can be done by individuals alone, it is always better to seek out professional guidance to help us out with the finer nitty gritty of the paperwork and legal aspects involved.