Beaumont and Gardner and Anor (No.2)

In *Beaumont and Gardner and Anor (No.2)*, Judge Scarlett of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia considered an application by an applicant seeking interim orders in family law proceedings where the respondent had died. The applicant sought to restrain the estate of the deceased respondent from requiring her to vacate a home unit, which was the sole asset of a superannuation fund. The executor of the estate required the winding up of the estate, and the court also considered an application to substitute the legal personal representative as a party in place of the deceased respondent.

The court was required to determine whether to grant interim property settlement payments to the applicant and whether it was just and equitable to do so. Further issues included the substitution of the deceased respondent's legal personal representative as a party and the transfer of the proceedings to the Family Court of Australia, given the complexity and likely length of the final hearing. The court also had to consider the appropriate interim orders regarding the property and certain artworks.

Applying the principles of family law and procedural rules, the court ordered that Mr C Gardner, as the legal personal representative of the late Mr M Gardner, be substituted as a party. The court also joined (omitted) Pty Ltd as the Second Respondent. Crucially, the applicant was ordered to vacate the home unit by 30 January 2016 upon payment of $18,000 by way of interim property settlement, with the First Respondent ordered to make this payment immediately upon the applicant vacating. The First Respondent was also restrained from disposing of certain artworks. The proceedings were transferred to the Family Court of Australia, and all other interim applications were dismissed.