Leggero and Jagger

In the Family Court of Australia, Mr Leggero (the applicant husband) and Ms Jagger (the respondent wife) brought their property and financial dispute before Young J. The proceedings were necessitated by the parties' inability to resolve their financial matters, exacerbated by the husband's limited life expectancy. The court was required to determine and adjust the parties' property interests pursuant to section 79 of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth).

The central legal issues before the court were to identify and value the parties' respective assets and liabilities, assess their financial and non-financial contributions to the marriage, consider the relevant section 75(2) factors, and ultimately determine what orders would be just and equitable for the division of their property. Specific issues included the valuation of various properties, the treatment of pre-cohabitation assets, the wife's claims for financial "add backs" relating to the husband's post-separation expenditures, the impact of the husband's terminal illness on his life expectancy, and the wife's contributions as a homemaker and to the husband's business, B Pty Ltd.

Young J applied the established four-step process for section 79 applications. After evaluating the evidence, including affidavits and oral testimony, the court found that the wife had made a greater overall contribution to the marriage, assessing this disparity at 6%. The court also considered the husband's significantly reduced life expectancy under section 75(2) factors, concluding that this warranted a further adjustment in the wife's favour of 6%. Consequently, the net asset pool (excluding superannuation) was ordered to be divided 62% to the wife and 38% to the husband. The court ordered that the wife pay the husband, via B Pty Ltd, a lump sum of $139,415 within 60 days, in exchange for which B Pty Ltd would transfer its 39% interest in the E property to the wife. If this payment was not made, the E property was to be sold by public auction, with the proceeds divided 80.64% to the wife and 19.36% to B Pty Ltd on behalf of the husband. Other orders addressed the parties' respective liabilities, entitlements, and the removal of caveats.