LAMOTHE & SAM

In the matter of *Lamothe & Sam*, Rees J of the Family Court of Australia considered a property dispute arising from a de facto relationship that had two distinct periods of cohabitation separated by seven years. The first period of the relationship lasted eleven years, and the second period lasted two years. The primary asset in contention was acquired at the commencement of the second period of the relationship.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether contributions made by the parties during the first period of their de facto relationship, which predated the Court's jurisdiction over de facto relationships, could be taken into account when determining the property settlement for the second period.

Rees J reasoned that the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) permits the Court to consider the entire history of the relationship when making property adjustments, even if parts of that history fall outside the Court's current jurisdictional reach. The Court found that the seven-year separation did not extinguish the relevance of the earlier contributions, particularly given the subsequent recommencement of the de facto relationship. The Court ordered that the respondent pay the applicant the sum of $90,222. In default of this payment, the respondent was to sell the property at X Street, Suburb L, with the proceeds to be applied first to any mortgage, then to the costs of sale, then to the applicant's payment, and any balance to the respondent. Provisions were also made for the process of any subsequent costs applications.