EWING & BURST

In the matter of EWING & BURST, the applicant (referred to as the wife) and the respondent (referred to as the husband), represented by his litigation guardian, the New South Wales Trustee & Guardian, brought proceedings before Judge Kemp of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. The core of the dispute concerned the division of property following the dissolution of a de facto relationship.

The court was required to determine whether a de facto relationship existed between the parties and, if so, to make orders for the division of their property. Specifically, the court needed to ascertain the duration of the de facto relationship and to make appropriate orders regarding the distribution of assets, including a specific property and other personal effects.

The court declared that a de facto relationship, as defined by section 4AA of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), existed between the wife and the husband for a period of 7 years and 5 months, concluding on 8 September 2012. Pursuant to section 90RD of the Act, the court ordered the husband's litigation guardian to pay the wife $18,500 from the husband's funds. Furthermore, the court ordered the sale of a property known as Property D, with the proceeds to be disbursed after sale expenses, with 43.7% allocated to the wife and the balance to the husband. Provisions were made for both private treaty and auction sales, including mechanisms for determining sale price and reserve price if agreement could not be reached. By consent, each party was to retain property currently in their possession, and the court made orders to facilitate the execution of necessary documents, including the appointment of the Registrar under section 106A of the Act if required. The court also stipulated a process for any application for costs, otherwise removing the matter from the active pending cases list.