GASPALDI & GASPALDI

In the matter of *Gaspaldi & Gaspaldi*, his Honour Deputy Chief Judge Faulks considered an application concerning the enforcement of property settlement orders. The dispute involved the husband and wife regarding the sale of a property located in the Australian Capital Territory.

The court was required to determine the appropriate mechanism for enforcing the sale of the property and the priority of payments from the sale proceeds. This included considering the wife's role in managing the sale and the distribution of funds to various parties, including creditors and legal representatives.

His Honour applied Rule 20.05 of the *Family Law Rules 2004* (Cth) to appoint the wife as trustee for the sale of the property. This appointment granted her broad authority to appoint agents and solicitors, determine sale terms (subject to notice to the husband), and execute necessary documents. The court then established a clear order of priority for the disbursement of sale proceeds, commencing with sale-related expenses, mortgage payments, reimbursement for costs incurred by the wife in preparing the property for sale, and finally, satisfaction of prior court orders and legal costs, with any balance to be paid to the husband.

The court made specific orders for the husband to vacate the property and for the wife to manage its sale. The operation of these orders was stayed to allow the husband an opportunity to apply to set them aside, provided he filed an affidavit explaining his absence from court and outlining the orders he sought. The matter was to be relisted promptly if the husband pursued this avenue.