Chou and Tang

In the Family Court of Australia, Justice Stevenson considered an application by Ms Chou against Mr Tang. Ms Chou sought declarations that her purported marriage to Mr Tang and a subsequent divorce order were void ab initio. The core of the dispute stemmed from Ms Chou's assertion that she was a victim of identity theft and had no knowledge of or involvement in either the marriage ceremony or the divorce proceedings. She further contended that she was unable to locate Mr Tang for the purpose of serving him with her application.

The legal issues before the court were whether it had the power to declare the divorce order void ab initio, and if so, whether it should exercise that power. The court also had to determine whether to dispense with service of the initiating application on Mr Tang, given Ms Chou's inability to locate him and her stated fear of him. Ms Chou relied on section 113 of the *Family Law Act* 1975 (Cth) for the declaration regarding the divorce order, as rescission under section 58 was not available because the divorce order had already become absolute.

Justice Stevenson reasoned that section 113 of the *Family Law Act* permitted the court to make such declarations as were justified in proceedings relating to matrimonial causes, which included divorce orders. The court accepted Ms Chou's evidence that she was the victim of identity theft and had no knowledge of the purported marriage or divorce. Her extensive efforts to locate Mr Tang, including searches of government databases and online platforms, were detailed and demonstrated a genuine inability to effect service. Furthermore, her fear of Mr Tang, stemming from the identity theft, provided a compelling reason to dispense with service. The court also considered section 51 of the *Family Law Act*, which allows for declarations that a marriage is void ab initio.

Consequently, the court ordered that service of the initiating application upon Mr Tang be dispensed with. Furthermore, pursuant to section 51 of the *Family Law Act*, the marriage purportedly solemnised between Ms Chou and Mr Tang was declared void ab initio. In addition, under section 113 of the *Family Law Act*, the divorce order purportedly pronounced and made absolute between the parties was also declared void ab initio.