COTTON & MORRIS

In the matter of *Cotton & Morris*, Justice Austin of the Family Court of Australia considered an application to review property settlement orders previously made by consent between the parties. The original consent orders, made on 12 October 2009, were found to contain a mathematical error. The parties subsequently agreed to a fresh set of Terms of Settlement to rectify this error.

The central legal issue before the court was whether to approve and make new orders in accordance with the jointly propounded Terms of Settlement, which aimed to cure the defect in the prior consent orders. The court was required to determine if the proposed settlement was fair and just in light of the identified error.

Justice Austin's reasoning focused on the parties' mutual agreement to the revised terms. The court applied the principle that where parties to family law proceedings jointly propose revised consent orders to correct an error in previous orders, and these revised orders are considered by the court to be just and equitable, the court should give effect to them. The court's decision was informed by the fact that the proposed Terms of Settlement were a consensual resolution to the identified mathematical error.

By consent, the court ordered that Order 2 of the previous orders made on 12 October 2009 be discharged. In its place, the husband was ordered to pay the wife the sum of $169,353.34 within 21 days, with provision for interest if payment was delayed. The court also made orders appointing the Registry Manager to execute documents if the husband refused to do so, and confirmed the remaining orders made by the Judicial Registrar on 12 October 2009.