Deslandes & Deslandes

In *Deslandes & Deslandes*, the wife initiated property proceedings in Australia. The husband subsequently applied for a permanent stay of these proceedings, arguing that Australia was a clearly inappropriate forum. The parties had entered into an ante-nuptial agreement in France prior to their marriage.

The central legal issue before Kent J was whether Australia constituted a "clearly inappropriate forum" for the resolution of the parties' financial matters, applying the test established in *Voth v Manildra Flour Mills Pty Ltd*. This required the court to consider various factors, including the parties' connection to Australia and France, the location of assets, and the terms of their ante-nuptial agreement.

Kent J reasoned that the parties had not resided in France since 2007 and had no assets there. Both parties intended to remain in Australia. Crucially, their ante-nuptial agreement did not contain any exclusive jurisdiction clause for French courts. The court viewed the resolution of issues arising from the marriage breakdown as a single controversy. Furthermore, the husband had invoked Australian jurisdiction by filing an application for parenting orders, and no proceedings had been commenced in France. Consequently, the court determined that Australia was not a clearly inappropriate forum.

The husband's application for a stay of proceedings was dismissed. The proceedings were subsequently transferred to the Federal Circuit Court pursuant to section 33B of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) for listing and further determination.