Bowes & Javier

This matter concerned applications by Mr Bowes (the Applicant) and Ms Javier (the First Respondent) for the alteration of property interests following a cohabitation of approximately eleven and a half years and the birth of one child. Ms B Bowes (the Second Respondent), the Applicant's sister, also sought property orders, asserting claims in equity against the former matrimonial home. The Second Respondent alleged that both the Applicant and the First Respondent were responsible for repaying a debt owed to her under a loan agreement where she was the lender and the Applicant was the borrower, a loan she claimed was secured by the former matrimonial home.

The court was required to determine the extent of the parties' respective contributions to the acquisition, conservation, and improvement of their property, and to make such orders as were just and equitable. Central to the dispute was the Second Respondent's assertion of an equitable mortgage and an equitable charge over the former matrimonial property, arising from the loan agreement with the Applicant. The court also had to consider the Applicant's divestment of funds both prior to and following the final separation of the parties.

Hartnett J found that the Applicant was solely liable for the repayment of the debt to the Second Respondent, ordering the Applicant to pay the sum of $113,374 to the Second Respondent for and on behalf of C Pty Ltd, and to indemnify the First Respondent against any liability arising from this payment. The entirety of the net proceeds of sale of the former matrimonial home, the Suburb E property, were ordered to be paid to the First Respondent. Each party was to retain monies already advanced to them by way of partial property settlement, and the First Respondent was to retain the proceeds of sale of a motor vehicle. The Applicant was to retain various assets and be solely liable for associated liabilities, including funds allegedly owed to his sister and other entities. The First Respondent was to retain her bank accounts and be solely liable for liabilities in her name. Each party was otherwise entitled to property in their possession and to indemnify the other against liabilities encumbering property to which they were entitled under the orders, with joint tenancies expressly severed. The Applicant was also ordered to pay costs to the First Respondent.