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Are court-ordered transfers of real estate a designated service?

No, transfers made pursuant to a court order fall outside because the transfer is carried out under judicial authority.

Where a transfer of real estate is made pursuant to or as a result of a court order, it falls outside the designated services in Table 6, item 1 of the AML/CTF Act. The court-order exemption applies because the transfer is being carried out under judicial authority, not as a discretionary commercial transaction between the parties.

Common scenarios that fall within the exemption:

  • Property settlements under Binding Financial Arrangements under Family Court orders (post-divorce orders to transfer the matrimonial home).
  • Transfers under a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration as part of estate distribution.
  • Transfers pursuant to court orders in bankruptcy, insolvency, or trust restructuring.
  • Transfers pursuant to a binding consent order to settle litigation.

What the exemption doesn't cover:

  • The conveyancing work to transfer of real estate out of the estate (e.g. conveying property to a beneficiary) - that conveyancing work is a designated service under Table 6, item 1.
  • Transactions where the court order is incidental rather than the operative trigger - for example, a sale where the parties happen to mention a court process but the sale itself proceeds on commercial terms.

AUSTRAC has given the worked example: a lawyer drafting a consent order after mediation, including provisions for a real estate transfer, is not providing a designated service through the consent-order drafting (it only influences a possible future conveyance) - but the conveyancer who later executes the transfer is captured.

See AUSTRAC's Professional designated services page.

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