Norton and Norton

In the matter of *Norton and Norton*, heard before Justice Cronin, the parties disputed the validity of a financial agreement executed on 30 June 2003. The court was required to determine whether this agreement constituted a financial agreement for the purposes of Part VIII of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) and, consequently, whether section 71A of the Act applied.

The court declared that the financial agreement dated 30 June 2003 was not a financial agreement for the purposes of Part VIII of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), and therefore, the provisions of section 71A of the Act did not apply. Following this declaration, the court made various orders concerning the adjournment of outstanding applications for a final hearing, the appointment of a docketed registrar for case management, and detailed directions for the filing of amended applications, affidavits of evidence, and financial statements by the applicant and respondent. Further orders stipulated the filing of material by the Independent Children’s Lawyer, the payment of trial fees, and the electronic filing of specific documents by practitioners prior to the hearing. The court also noted that the allocated place in the defended list might change and advised parties to monitor its progress.