Phelps and Phelps (No 2)

In *Phelps and Phelps (No 2)*, Baumann J of the Family Court of Australia considered applications made by both the wife and the husband in proceedings listed for trial. The wife sought to provide further information to a single expert forensic accountant whose report was not yet complete, and indicated she might seek the appointment of an adversarial expert after reviewing that report. The husband opposed the wife providing further information to the single expert and sought to restrain her from allowing her retained accountants to attend any meeting with the single expert.

The court was required to determine whether to permit the wife to provide additional information to the single expert, and whether to grant the husband's application to prevent the wife's accountants from meeting with the single expert. These applications arose in the context of an impending trial and the wife's potential future applications concerning expert evidence.

Baumann J dismissed the wife's application to provide further information to the single expert, finding that the existing material was sufficient for the expert to complete their report. The court also dismissed the husband's application to restrain the wife's accountants from attending meetings with the single expert, implicitly allowing for appropriate communication between the parties and the expert. The costs of these applications were reserved to the trial judge.