Karbines & Karbines and Ors

In *Karbines & Karbines*, the Family Court of Australia considered property proceedings between parties to a marriage, which also involved an intervener seeking to resolve a dispute arising from the husband's dealings with a property owned by the parties' company, now in liquidation. The intervener claimed entitlement to certain funds as a result of these dealings.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether it possessed jurisdiction to determine the intervener's claim, particularly in light of sections 90AD and 90AE of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). The Court was required to consider the extent to which these provisions empowered it to resolve disputes involving debts owed by a party to the marriage, especially when those debts were intertwined with property settlement proceedings and the parties' roles as directors of companies.

Dawe J reasoned that while section 90AD does not automatically confer jurisdiction for all debts, the specific circumstances of this case demonstrated a close interconnection between the intervener's claim and the property settlement proceedings. The Court noted that issues concerning the parties' interactions as company directors had already arisen in the proceedings. Consequently, Dawe J concluded that the Court had jurisdiction to determine the intervener's claim.

The Court ordered that it would hear the matter on the evidence presented and ruled that it had jurisdiction and it was appropriate to exercise that jurisdiction.