International Assets in Family Law
Overseas property, foreign bank accounts, pensions, companies or trusts? We help you identify, value and divide international assets in an Australian property settlement, and make sure the orders can be enforced where the assets sit.
Under Australian family law, assets held in Australia and overseas can both form part of the property pool. That includes foreign real estate, bank and brokerage accounts, investments, pensions, trusts and business interests. Where an asset sits does not take it out of the pool. What matters is who owns or controls it. Location mainly affects how information is obtained, how values are assessed and how orders are enforced.
Move forward with clarity and confidence.
Why Overseas Assets Make a Settlement Harder
International assets bring problems a domestic settlement never has: different land registries, currency movements, foreign tax, and orders that may need to be recognised in another country before they mean anything there. Records can be harder to obtain, and there is more room for a party to hide or move assets.
Our lawyers work through complex pools involving multiple entities, properties, valuations and overseas assets, and we have lawyers who are fluent in Italian.
An overseas asset is still part of the pool. The real work is proving what it is worth and making sure the orders can actually be enforced where it sits.
Giuseppe RubinoSenior Associate, Melbourne Family LawyersHow We Help With International Assets
We act in property settlements involving:
- Overseas real estate
- Foreign bank and brokerage accounts
- Foreign companies and trusts
- Overseas pensions and retirement schemes
- RSUs, options and employment equity
- Enforcing orders overseas
Your Duty of Full and Frank Disclosure
Disclosure applies to overseas assets from the start of negotiations to final orders. Expect to provide:
Foreign title and company registry records
Overseas bank and brokerage statements
Pension and retirement scheme documents
Share plan grant letters and plan rules
Loans and transfers involving offshore entities
If privacy or security is a concern, disclosure can be made to an independent expert under confidentiality undertakings, or with redacted documents, while still allowing the other side to verify it.
Red flags in international cases
Watch for transfers to overseas brokers with no matching disclosure, a foreign property suddenly transferred to a sibling or parent, a new foreign company or trust set up shortly before separation, claims of a catastrophic loss with no police report or insurance claim, and large remittances described as loans with no loan agreement.
If you see any of these, move quickly for targeted disclosure and preservation orders.
Valuing Overseas Assets
Valuing an overseas asset depends on reliable information and an agreed valuation date. Common approaches include:
- Real property: local valuations, allowing for currency, local taxes and selling costs
- Listed shares: market prices on the agreed date, averaged if markets are volatile
- Private companies: earnings multiples or discounted cash flow
- Pensions: scheme rules, vesting terms and actuarial values
- Foreign currency: a recorded exchange rate source and date
- Restricted assets: a marketability discount, or post-tax value where tax on sale is certain
Currency movements can change values quickly. Agreeing the exchange rate source early, using a short averaging period, building collars into cash adjustments or sharing the exposure across assets can all reduce later disputes.
An Australian court can decide your property settlement even if assets are overseas. Early questions include where each of you lives, where you married or lived as a couple, and whether proceedings have already started in another country. If there is a real contest about the right forum, the court weighs how closely the parties and assets are connected to each country, delay and cost.
Getting orders in Australia is one step. Enforcing them where the asset sits is the other. Options include:
- Registering or recognising the order overseas
- Mirror orders in the foreign court
- Orders requiring a party to sell and account for proceeds
- Escrow, undertakings and staged payments
Local advice in the foreign country is critical, so we draft Australian orders with an eye to how they will be read and used overseas.
International structures often hold family wealth. The court looks beyond legal title to effective control and benefit. If a party controls a trust or company through shareholding, officeholder roles or appointment powers, its assets or value can be treated as part of the pool or as a financial resource. Distributions from offshore trusts timed to defeat a claim are closely scrutinised, and undocumented family loans risk being treated as gifts.
Proving ownership usually draws on foreign title searches, company extracts and share registers, bank and broker statements, share plan documents, remittance records and overseas tax returns. Where records are incomplete, forensic accountants can piece together a timeline across several entities.
If there is a real risk assets will be moved, the court can make urgent orders, including freezing orders that restrain dealings with named assets anywhere in the world, orders compelling a party to disclose where assets are, and orders stopping banks or companies from dealing with them. These orders need strong evidence and precise drafting.
If overseas assets were sold under value to a related party, drained after separation or loaded with a new mortgage for no genuine purpose, that is wastage. Since the June 2025 changes to the Family Law Act, spent money is no longer notionally added back into the pool, but the court can still take material wastage into account when deciding a fair division.
Meet Some Of Our Family Lawyers
Hayder Shkara
Director & Practice Manager
Katherine Siotos
Associate
Stephanie Hope
Senior Associate
Giuseppe Rubino
Senior Associate
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to disclose small foreign accounts?
Yes. Disclose everything first, then agree on a threshold for what actually affects the division. Leaving out an account, however small, damages your credibility.
What if a foreign registry will not release documents?
Explain the steps you have taken and provide what you can. The court can make targeted orders or accept expert summaries while you keep pursuing the documents.
Can currency risk be avoided altogether?
Not completely, but it can be reduced with averaging periods, currency collars and staged payments.
What if my former partner will not cooperate with a sale overseas?
Orders can require cooperation with clear default mechanisms, such as appointing a receiver or transferring control of shares in the company that holds the asset.
Is an overseas asset safe from the Australian court?
No. The court can make orders against parties within its jurisdiction, wherever the asset is. The challenge is enforcement, which is why orders are designed with overseas recognition in mind.
Can gifts from family overseas be excluded?
Gifts are examined carefully. Money genuinely given to one party by their family may be treated as a contribution on that party’s side or as a financial resource. A gift that looks like a way of moving property out of the pool will be closely scrutinised.
How are overseas pensions and share plans divided?
Foreign pensions and equity plans have their own rules on vesting, transfer and tax. Where an interest cannot be transferred, a common solution is a share of the proceeds when it vests or is sold, with reporting obligations and a clear split of tax and currency effects.