NIU & ZHAI

The case involved an interlocutory application before Austin J in the Family Court of Australia concerning parenting arrangements, interim property settlement, and spousal maintenance between the husband and wife. The dispute centred on the children's living arrangements and time with each parent, the division of a motor vehicle, and the husband's capacity to provide financial support to the wife.

The court was required to determine the best interests of the three children, B, C, and D, in establishing their living arrangements and the time they would spend with each parent. Additionally, the court needed to make orders regarding an interim property settlement, specifically concerning a motor vehicle, and to assess the wife's entitlement to spousal maintenance, considering the husband's financial capacity to pay.

In relation to parenting, the court found that an arrangement where the children live with the father and spend substantial and significant time with the mother had been consensually occurring for the past 12 months and was in the children's best interests. The parties were ordered to have equal shared parental responsibility. For property settlement, the husband was ordered to either transfer his interest in a specific motor vehicle to the wife or pay her $30,000 to purchase her own vehicle. The husband was also ordered to pay the wife $1,400 per week by way of spousal maintenance, acknowledging her need and his capacity to pay. The court also made orders regarding litigation funding and imposed injunctions on the husband concerning various corporations and trusts.