Marsh and Marsh & Anor (No 2)

This case concerned an application by Ms Marsh, the applicant wife and a self-represented litigant, to adjourn the final hearing of property proceedings in the Family Court of Australia. The hearing was scheduled to commence on 10 February 2014, having been fixed for six days in May of the previous year. The respondent husband and the intervenor, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), were ready to proceed on the allocated dates.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether to grant the wife's application for an adjournment. The wife sought this on several grounds, including her distraction by complex parenting matters, the part-heard nature of contravention proceedings concerning parenting orders which were listed to be heard before the property hearing, and her assertion that property proceedings should not conclude until parenting proceedings were finalised. She also highlighted issues relating to her legal representation and the preparation of her case.

Justice Aldridge granted the adjournment, acknowledging the wife's self-represented status and the ongoing, complicated parenting litigation which had impacted her ability to prepare for the property hearing. While noting the prejudice to the husband and the ATO due to wasted costs and the delay in resolving the ATO's significant debt, the court found that the wife's circumstances, including the unresolved application for a solicitor's lien over funds intended for her costs, provided sufficient grounds for vacation. The court also vacated an earlier order regarding the valuation of New Zealand properties and permitted each party to obtain their own valuations.

The court ordered that the hearing dates commencing 10 February 2014 be vacated and fixed new hearing dates for six days commencing 19 May 2014, strongly indicating that the matter should proceed on these dates regardless of the parties' readiness. The wife was ordered to pay the costs of the husband and the ATO thrown away by reason of the adjournment. The wife was also directed to file and serve all her material by 24 April 2014, with no further material to be filed without leave.