Martello and Martello

In the matter of *Martello and Martello*, Forrest J of the Federal Court of Australia considered an application for interlocutory injunctions. The dispute concerned the preservation of assets pending final resolution of proceedings between the husband and wife. The wife sought orders to restrain the husband from dealing with various companies and trusts in which he held interests, or which were otherwise connected to the family's financial affairs.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the wife had established a sufficient prima facie case to warrant the grant of interlocutory injunctions restraining the husband from dissipating or diminishing the value of specified assets. This involved assessing the likelihood of the wife succeeding in the underlying proceedings and whether the balance of convenience favoured the granting of such injunctive relief to preserve the status quo.

Forrest J applied the principles governing the grant of interlocutory injunctions, requiring the applicant to demonstrate a serious question to be tried and that damages would not be an adequate remedy. The Court considered the nature of the assets in question, which included shares in various proprietary companies and interests in family trusts, and the potential for the husband's actions to prejudice the wife's claim to a share of those assets. The Court found that the wife had established a sufficient case for the grant of injunctions.

Consequently, the Court ordered that, until further order or written agreement between the parties, the husband be restrained by injunction from selling, disposing of, charging, encumbering, alienating, assigning, diluting, or dissipating his interests in a list of specified companies and trusts. Furthermore, the husband was restrained from taking any action or omission that would reduce the value of any asset in which either party had a legal or equitable interest.