DAYMOND & DAYMOND

[2014] FamCAFC 212

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA

DAYMOND & DAYMOND [2014] FamCAFC 212

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – AMENDED NOTICE OF APPEAL – PROPERTY SETTLEMENT – CONTRIBUTIONS – where the trial judge made final property settlement orders between the appellant husband and the respondent wife reflecting a division of 47.5 per cent and 52.5 per cent respectively – where the trial judge found that the respective contributions of the parties were equal – where the appellant husband submitted that that finding was unreasonable and manifestly unjust to him and the exercise of discretion miscarried – where the appellant husband made greater direct financial contributions, including via a late inheritance, than the respondent wife, and the respondent wife made greater homemaker and parent contributions than the appellant husband – where the appellant husband submitted that the contribution findings in other cases with some similar factual circumstances demonstrate that the result in this case is plainly wrong – where it was claimed that in finding equality the trial judge took into account an irrelevant consideration and accorded too much weight to the care provided by the respondent wife to the now adult child of the parties who has Asperger’s Syndrome – where there is no basis for the overall assessment of contributions in one case to be decided in the same way as in other cases simply because there may be a broad similarity between the facts of those cases – no merit found in the claims that the trial judge took into account an irrelevant consideration and accorded too much weight to the care provided by the respondent wife to the child of the parties with Asperger’s Syndrome – where the Full Court found no error by the trial judge in his assessment of the contributions of the parties as being equal – where his Honour’s decision was not outside the range and plainly wrong such that it was no proper exercise of his judicial discretion – no merit in these grounds of appeal – appeal dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – AMENDED NOTICE OF APPEAL – PROPERTY SETTLEMENT – ADEQUACY OF REASONS – where the appellant husband submitted that there was a lack of reasons in a number of areas including in relation to the overall assessment of contributions by the trial judge – where the reasons by the trial judge are adequate in explaining why he concluded that the respective contributions of the parties should be treated as being equal – no merit in these grounds of appeal – appeal dismissed.

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – NOTICE OF APPEAL – COSTS – where the appeal was wholly unsuccessful – where the appellant husband did not oppose an order for costs if the appeal was unsuccessful – costs order made in favour of the respondent wife.

Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) – s 79

Bennett & Bennett (1991) FLC 92-191
Bonnici & Bonnici (1992) FLC 92-272
Farmer and Bramley (2000) FLC 93-060
Gronow & Gronow (1979) 144 CLR 513
House v The King