Patterson and Patterson and Anor - [2016] FCCA 1555

FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA

PATTERSON & PATTERSON & ANOR

[2016] FCCA 1555

Catchwords:
FAMILY LAW – Child Support – Application for Declaration – summary dismissal – application for summary dismissal.

Legislation:

Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989 (Cth), ss.98S, 115

Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 (Cth), ss.71, 104, 111B, 116

Federal Circuit Court of Australia Act 1999 (Cth), ss.10, 17A, 18
Federal Circuit Court Rules 2001, R. 25B

Cases cited:

Bagala & Bagala [2009] FMCAfam 953
Moore & Moore [2012] FMCAfam 577
Redmond & Strolz & Anor (SSAT Appeal) [2015] FCCA 252

Applicant:

MR PATTERSON

First Respondent:

MS PATTERSON

Second Respondent:

CHILD SUPPORT REGISTRAR

File Number:

SYC 7687 of 2013

Judgment of:

Judge Scarlett

Hearing date:

14 July 2015

Date of Last Submission:

14 July 2015

Delivered at:

Sydney

Delivered on:

28 June 2016

REPRESENTATION

Counsel for the Applicant:

Mr Grant (direct brief)

Solicitor for the First Respondent:

Ms Cole

Solicitors for the First Respondent:	Legal Aid NSW
Solicitor for the Second Respondent:	Ms Schuster
Solicitors for the Second Respondent:	Department of Human Services

ORDERS

The Response filed on 4 May 2015 is dismissed.
The matter is transferred to the docket of the Judge Henderson for further directions on 12 August 2016 at 9:30am.

IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment under the pseudonym Patterson & Patterson & Anor is approved pursuant to s.121(9)(g) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT
OF AUSTRALIA
AT SYDNEY

SYC 7687 of 2013

MR PATTERSON

Applicant

And

MS PATTERSON

First Respondent

CHILD SUPPORT REGISTRAR

Second Respondent

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

Application

This is an Application In a Case brought by the Husband seeking the following orders:
a)A declaration that the total amount by Mr Patterson to Ms Patterson in child support liability for X is nil.
b)An order that the Child Support Registrar amend the particulars in the child support register accordingly within 14 days.
c)Such further or other orders as to this honourable court may seem fit.
d)An order that the Child Support Registrar and Ms Patterson pay Mr Patterson’s costs of this application.
The application is supported by two affidavits made by the Applicant, one on 31^st March 2014 and the second on 1^st April 2015. The Application in a Case which is filed on 1^st April 2015 was superseded by an Amended Application in a Case which was filed in Court on 14^th July 2015. The later Application joined the Child Support Registrar as a party.

Background

The background to this particular matter is that there were proceedings in this Court originally commenced by way of an Application in a Case filed on 23^rd December 2013 by the Applicant Wife and that Application sought payment of arrears of child support of $4,041.39 and a variety of ancillary orders. That Application was supported by an affidavit of the Applicant Wife sworn on 23^rd December 2015 and an affidavit sworn by her solicitor of that same date.
The Husband filed a Response…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Patterson and Patterson and Anor

Details

AGLC: Patterson and Patterson and Anor [2016] FCCA 1555
Case: [2016] FCCA 1555
Decision Date: 28 June 2016

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the matter of *Patterson and Patterson and Anor*, heard before Judge Scarlett, the dispute concerned an application made by the respondent, filed on 4 May 2015. The precise nature of the dispute is not detailed in the provided text, but it involved an application that was ultimately dismissed.

The primary legal issue before the court was the determination of the application filed by the respondent on 4 May 2015. The court was required to consider the merits of this application and decide whether it should be upheld or dismissed.

Judge Scarlett dismissed the respondent's application filed on 4 May 2015. Following this dismissal, the court ordered that the matter be transferred to the docket of Judge Henderson for further directions, with a hearing scheduled for 12 August 2016 at 9:30 am.

Orders

Orders of the court

The Response filed on 4 May 2015 is dismissed.

The matter is transferred to the docket of the Judge Henderson for further directions on 12 August 2016 at 9:30am.

Background

Background to the litigation

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Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

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Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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