BAIN & BAIN

In *Bain & Bain* [2013] FamCA 554, Hogan J of the Family Court of Australia considered an application for interim spousal maintenance. The wife was unwell and unable to work, and while the husband agreed that some spousal maintenance should be paid, the quantum of that maintenance was in dispute. A key issue for determination was whether the wife should be granted an amount for rent equivalent to the husband's expenditure on rent.

The court was required to determine the appropriate quantum of interim spousal maintenance to be paid by the husband to the wife, particularly in relation to housing costs, and to make orders for the provision of a motor vehicle and for medical treatment.

Hogan J reasoned that the wife's inability to work due to illness necessitated an award of interim spousal maintenance. The court considered the comparability of the parties' housing expenditures, ultimately ordering the husband to pay a weekly sum of $1,049.00 by way of spousal maintenance. Further orders were made for the husband to pay a lump sum of $3,496.00, to provide a motor vehicle for the wife's use, and to cover its insurance and registration costs, including any excess payments. The court also made specific provisions for the wife's medical treatment, ordering the husband to pay $7,000.00 for two doses of a pharmaceutical, with a further $7,000.00 contingent on the effectiveness of the treatment as reported by the wife's oncologist. The wife was ordered to reimburse the husband for any health insurance payments received in relation to this treatment.