Germinario v Pinkerton No. DCCIV-99-28

The matter concerns a claim brought by the Plaintiff, Germinario, against the Defendant, Pinkerton, under the De Facto Relationships Act 1996. Germinario seeks a declaration that she and Pinkerton were in a de facto relationship from April 1994 to June 1998 and a division of property between them. The Defendant counterclaims for rent for the period of Germinario's occupation of a unit at Glenside. The legal issues in the case revolve around the definition of a de facto relationship under the Act, the assessment of financial and non-financial contributions made by both parties, and the exercise of the court's discretion to divide property in a just and equitable manner.

The court found that the relationship between Germinario and Pinkerton met the criteria of a de facto relationship as defined by the Act, as they lived together on a genuine domestic basis as husband and wife from July 1994. The court also found that Germinario's expectation of marriage and Pinkerton's encouragement of her to leave her employment were relevant considerations in determining a just and equitable division of property. The court rejected the Plaintiff's valuation of the Defendant's minority shareholdings in private companies, finding that it was not realistic to expect the Defendant to unlock the real value of these shareholdings in the short term. Instead, the court valued the Defendant's interest in these companies based on the capitalisation of future maintainable dividends.

The court exercised its discretion under the Act to divide property in a way that is just and equitable, taking into account the financial and non-financial contributions made by both parties, as well as other relevant matters such as the Plaintiff's expectation of marriage and the length of the relationship. The court ordered the Defendant to pay the Plaintiff a lump sum of $75,000, taking into account the Defendant's entitlement to rent for the Plaintiff's occupation of the Glenside unit. The court declined to hear further orders on the counterclaim.