Anison and Anison & Anor

In *Anison and Anison & Anor*, Hogan J of the Family Court of Australia considered an application by a third party, B Pty Ltd as Trustee for the C Trust, to be disjoined from property settlement proceedings and for relief sought against it to be struck out. The wife had joined the corporate trustee, of which the husband was a unitholder, to the proceedings, asserting that trust property constituted property of the parties, despite the trust having been established before cohabitation.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether there was a reasonable likelihood of success in the wife's claim that the trust property was property of the parties to the marriage. This involved determining whether the trust, established prior to the commencement of cohabitation, could be considered part of the matrimonial asset pool for the purposes of property settlement.

Hogan J reasoned that the wife's assertion that the trust property was property of the parties lacked a reasonable likelihood of success. The court found that the trust was established before the parties commenced cohabitation, and there was no evidence to suggest that the trust was a sham or that its assets should be treated as the husband's individual property. Consequently, the court ordered that paragraphs 1, 2, and 2(a) of the wife's amended initiating application, which referred to B Pty Ltd as Trustee for the C Trust and the Trust, be struck out. The Second Respondent, B Pty Ltd, was removed as a party to the proceedings.

In addition to striking out the claims against the third party, the court made interim orders for spousal maintenance. The husband was ordered to pay the wife $500.00 per week by way of spousal maintenance, with the first payment due on 9 November 2015. Furthermore, the husband was ordered to pay $20,000.00 to the wife's solicitors' trust account by 4 December 2015, to be used solely for the wife's legal costs for the forthcoming trial, with the ultimate categorisation of these funds to be determined at trial. The remaining applications were dismissed, and directions were given for any applications for costs. The wife was also granted liberty to seek capitalised spousal maintenance at the final hearing.