Panwar and Panwar & Anor

In *Panwar and Panwar & Anor*, the applicant wife sought an extension of time to commence proceedings under section 79 of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) for property settlement. The dispute arose from an informal property settlement reached in 2015, following which the husband was declared bankrupt. The trustee in bankruptcy was pursuing the wife for amounts allegedly owing under sections 120 and 121 of the *Bankruptcy Act 1966* (Cth).

The primary legal issue before Justice Wilson was whether to grant the wife leave to extend the time for commencing her section 79 application. This required the court to consider the relevant criteria for granting such an extension, particularly in light of the trustee's actions and the wife's application. A further consideration was the potential disparity in allowing the trustee's application to proceed while the wife's section 79 application was not yet permitted.

Justice Wilson granted the application, extending the date for commencing the proceeding to 20 December 2019. The court undertook an extensive review of unsettled authorities concerning extensions of time in such circumstances. The reasoning appears to have involved balancing the interests of the parties, including the trustee's pursuit of alleged debts and the wife's right to seek a property settlement, within the framework of the *Family Law Act* and the *Bankruptcy Act*. The court ordered that the parties were to bring in minutes for ongoing case management by 4pm on 25 June 2020, acknowledging the case was now in the judge's docket.