Blythe and Blythe

In the matter of *Blythe and Blythe*, Forrest J of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia considered an application to set aside and vary existing court orders concerning the sale of a property. The dispute centred on the practical steps required to facilitate the sale of the property located at C Street, D Town, which was held by a trust.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether to set aside a specific paragraph of prior orders and, in its place, appoint a trustee with specific powers to manage and sell the D Town property. This involved determining the appropriate powers to grant to the appointed trustee, including the authority to undertake repairs, determine sale terms, incur necessary expenditure, and be reimbursed for expenses. The court also had to consider how the net proceeds of the sale should be handled and whether the appointed trustee should be entitled to professional fees.

Forrest J applied section 79A(1)(b) of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) to set aside the previous order. The court reasoned that appointing a trustee for sale was necessary to effectuate the sale of the property efficiently. The orders made empowered Mr B as trustee for sale, directing the parties and relevant companies to transfer title to him. Mr B was authorised to carry out necessary repairs, sell the property by auction or other suitable means, and incur all necessary expenditure from the Blythe Fund's cash assets. The court also stipulated that Mr B would be entitled to reasonable professional fees for his work, to be paid from the net proceeds of sale after accounting for all costs and expenses.