MEDFORD & MEDFORD

In *Medford & Medford*, Johns J of the Family Court of Australia considered a dispute between a husband and wife concerning a property and mortgage repayments. The wife sought orders for the property to be transferred and sold upon the husband's default in meeting his mortgage obligations, following the bank's issuance of a notice of default.

The central legal issues before the court were the terms of an agreement to manage the mortgage repayments for the subject property and the consequences of any failure to comply with those terms. The court was also required to determine the appropriate costs order given the husband's unsuccessful claims.

The court's reasoning led to a consent order that required the husband to provide confirmation from the National Australia Bank that the notice of default would not be enforced, provided he made monthly payments of $726 by the 22nd of each month. The husband was also ordered to provide monthly statements evidencing these payments and to meet all future mortgage payments as they fell due. Crucially, the court ordered that if the husband failed to comply with these obligations for three consecutive months, the property would be transferred into the joint names of the husband and wife and placed on the market for sale. The proceeds of sale were to be applied first to sale costs, then to satisfy arrears and discharge the mortgage, with any balance to be deposited into the wife's solicitors' trust account. The court also made orders regarding the execution of necessary documents and the application for supervised child contact, and by the court, it was ordered that the husband pay the wife's costs in the sum of $3,000.