MILFORD & MILFORD

In *Milford & Milford*, the applicant, Mr Milford, sought to set aside consent orders made by the Family Court on 4 March 2009 pursuant to s.79A of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). The respondent, Ms Milford, sought dismissal of the application. The applicant alleged a miscarriage of justice due to the respondent's alleged suppression of evidence concerning her interest in the [C] Family Trust and its corporate trustee, [C] Consolidated Pty Ltd.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the applicant had discharged the onus, on the balance of probabilities, to establish that a miscarriage of justice had occurred by reason of the respondent's suppression of evidence, thereby justifying the Court exercising its discretion to set aside the 2009 consent orders. The Court was required to determine this issue before considering any potential property settlement orders.

Judge Jones reasoned that the applicant bore the burden of proving the grounds for setting aside the orders. The alleged suppression of evidence related to the respondent's interest in the [C] Family Trust. The Court noted that the applicant sought to have the Court determine this specific issue first, to which the respondent consented. Consequently, the Court confined its decision solely to the question of whether the 2009 orders should be set aside based on the alleged suppression of evidence.

The application made pursuant to s.79A of the *Family Law Act 1975* was dismissed.