Inch and Inch (No. 2)

In the Family Court of Australia, Mrs Inch (the applicant wife) sought an interim payment of $1,500,000 from Mr Inch (the respondent husband) by way of part-settlement of property. The husband did not dispute the quantum of the sum sought but opposed the source of payment, proposing instead to secure a loan against the former matrimonial home. The wife resisted this proposal, seeking payment from a term deposit held by C Pty Ltd, a company associated with the husband's family interests.

The court was required to determine the appropriate source for the interim payment of $1,500,000. This involved considering the husband's proposed method of payment via a mortgage on the former matrimonial home against the wife's preferred method of payment from funds held by C Pty Ltd, which was part of a complex corporate and trust structure involving both the husband's and the H family's interests. The court also had to consider the potential tax implications and the views of the H family interests regarding any distribution from the trust.

Justice Guest ordered that the husband pay $1,000,000 to the wife's pension fund and $500,000 to her solicitors by bank cheque by 4 pm on 27 June 2007. These payments were to be sourced from Z Pty Ltd's share of funds held by C Pty Ltd. The court reasoned that while the husband's proposed loan against the matrimonial home was a possibility, there was a readily available and identified fund within C Pty Ltd that could satisfy the wife's application without encumbering the former matrimonial home. The court was not satisfied with the husband's assertions regarding the financial consequences of distributing funds from C Pty Ltd, particularly as these assertions were unsupported by the H family interests, who indicated no objection to the payment. The court dismissed the parties' respective applications for interim orders, reserved costs, and certified the matter as reasonably requiring the attendance of Senior Counsel.