Dear Customer,

1. If the signed and certified BFA is a binding separation agreement (we call them BSAs to help distinguish between financial agreements at the beginning of a relationship and a financial agreement used to document the terms of a financial settlement) then the clauses included allow for the transfer of real estate which is exempt from transfer duty, and if there are super transfer clauses specific to the particular super fund, then super can be transferred from one party to the other. If the parties have a pre-nuptial or de facto agreement that has general clauses, then after separation, they must sign a BSA with the specific clauses to meet the regulator requirements. Unless there is formal separation, evidenced by a signed Separation Declaration, then the Office of State Revenue will not allow stamp duty free real estate transfers. The Superannuation Regulations will only allow a super transfer between parties if the agreement is a binding separation agreement.

2. No. The super regulations state that the relevant super fund may split or transfer super if the document complies with the regulations. The complying documents are either a certified BSA (with either correct super splitting clauses) or stamped Consent Orders (issued by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. There is no mechanism for a BSA to be be stamped. It does not require stamping.

Kind regards