Brand and Yoke

The case of Brand and Yoke concerned a dispute between a husband and wife, heard by Deputy Chief Justice Faulks. The primary dispute revolved around the division of marital assets, particularly the proceeds from the sale of a property and the husband's superannuation entitlements.

The court was required to determine how the proceeds of the sale of the property known as L in Queensland should be distributed, and to make orders regarding the husband's superannuation fund, the Y Superannuation Fund. Specifically, the court needed to consider whether to revoke previous orders that prevented the trustee from making splittable payments from the husband's superannuation, and to determine the wife's entitlement to such payments.

The court ordered that solicitors holding trust money from the sale of the Queensland property were to pay all such money to the wife. Furthermore, previous orders restraining the trustee of the Y Superannuation Fund from making splittable payments were revoked. The court declared that the wife was entitled to 100 per cent of any splittable payment made from the husband's interest in the Y Superannuation Fund, with a corresponding reduction for the husband, in accordance with s 90MT1(b) and s 90ME of the Family Law Act 1975. The operative time for these superannuation orders was set as the date of the transfer of the transferable benefit. The court also confirmed each party's entitlement to property in their possession, declared the wife as the owner of benefits from specific superannuation schemes in her name, and ordered mutual indemnities for liabilities encumbering property awarded to each party.