McKone v Maretta

McKone v Maretta was a case involving a dispute between the parties over the adjustment of their property interests under the Defacto Relationship Act 1984. The applicants sought to have their property interests adjusted in respect of different periods of their relationship. The case was heard in the Family Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the court was whether an application for adjustment of property interests could be made in respect of different periods of a defacto relationship, and if so, what the requirements for such an application were. The applicants argued that their relationship could be divided into distinct periods, and that they should be able to seek an adjustment of their property interests for each of those periods. The respondents, on the other hand, contended that an application for adjustment of property interests could only be made in respect of a single period, and that the entire relationship should be considered as one continuous period.

The court found that only one of the periods in question had to be for at least two years in order for an application for adjustment of property interests to be valid. The court held that the Fotherington v Fotherington case, which was decided by the Court of Appeal on 28 August 1998, was applicable to the current case and should be followed. The court further held that the applicants' relationship could not be divided into distinct periods for the purposes of an application for adjustment of property interests. The court dismissed the applicants' claims.

The court ordered that the applicants' application for an adjustment of their property interests be dismissed, and that the respondents were entitled to costs. The applicants were also ordered to pay the respondents' costs on an indemnity basis.