Dewell and Harris & Anor

In the Family Court of Australia, Rees J considered an application by a wife for property settlement against her husband and his father, who was joined as the second respondent. The dispute centred on the division of the parties' assets, including a Unit Trust owned by the husband's father, with which the husband had extensively intermingled his personal finances. The wife alleged calculated non-disclosure by the husband, who was found to be an unreliable witness.

The court was required to determine the extent of the husband's financial resources, particularly in relation to the Unit Trust and the Trustee company, and to consider how the parties' superannuation entitlements should be treated as assets for the purposes of property settlement, given their ages. The court also had to address the division of the matrimonial home and other significant assets.

Rees J reasoned that the husband's extensive dealings with the Unit Trust and the intermingling of his finances with those of the Trust meant that the Trust and its Trustee company constituted financial resources of the husband. The court found that the husband had engaged in calculated non-disclosure and was an unreliable witness. Applying principles of family law property division, the court determined that the wife should receive 52.5 per cent of the net assets.

The court ordered that the husband vacate the matrimonial home within fourteen days and transfer his interest in the property to the wife within 90 days, along with a payment of $2,132,078. The husband's superannuation interests were to be split, with the wife allocated a base amount of $1,100,000. The second respondent was declared the owner of a specific painting, and other personal property was to be retained by the respective parties, with the wife retaining two artworks and the husband retaining all other artworks, tools, and equipment.