PHELPS & PHELPS

In proceedings before Baumann J, the wife sought interim orders restraining the husband, as sole director and shareholder of the trustee company of the family trust, from distributing trust income without her written consent. The wife also sought to join her father to the proceedings and amend her Response to include property adjustment orders involving commercial arrangements with her father.

The Court was required to determine whether to grant the interim injunction sought by the wife, whether the proposed property adjustment orders extending to third-party commercial arrangements were within the Court's jurisdiction, and whether to grant an adjournment of the final hearing.

Baumann J dismissed the wife's application for an interim injunction, finding that the proposed property adjustment orders extending to commercial arrangements with her father were beyond the Court's jurisdiction. The Court also refused the wife's application for leave to amend her Response to include these orders. However, the Court granted the wife's application for an adjournment of the final hearing, which was listed for May 2020. While not persuaded that an electronic trial would be inherently unfair, the Court found that uncertainties regarding business valuations due to COVID-19 restrictions necessitated further evidence before proceeding. The final hearing was therefore adjourned to a date not before 1 October 2020.