Bava & Chaudry

In the matter of Bava & Chaudry, Ms Bava was the applicant and Mr Chaudry was the respondent before Judge Terry in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. The dispute concerned whether a de facto relationship existed between the parties, which was a threshold question for the court to determine.

The court was required to determine whether the parties had been in a de facto relationship for the purposes of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). This involved assessing the nature of their relationship, including the commencement and cessation of their sexual relationship, their ongoing contact, and the circumstances under which the applicant moved into the respondent's property.

Judge Terry found that while the parties had a sexual relationship between late 2007/2008 and October 2011/December 2012, and the applicant later moved into the respondent's home in September 2014, the evidence did not support a finding that a de facto relationship existed. The court was satisfied that the applicant hoped for a future together, which had some foundation in things the respondent said, but it was not satisfied that the respondent had made a firm commitment to live with her in a couple relationship prior to her moving in. The respondent's statements indicated reluctance to commit and concerns about his children's reaction.

Pursuant to s 90RD of the *Family Law Act*, the court declared that a de facto relationship never existed between Ms Bava and Mr Chaudry. Consequently, the Initiating Application filed on 22 October 2018 was dismissed.