Quill & Quill

In the matter of *Quill & Quill*, Mr Quill (the applicant husband) sought to set aside final property orders made on 21 July 2010, pursuant to section 79A of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). Ms Quill (the respondent wife) opposed this application. The dispute centred on the husband's assertion that the 2010 consent orders were made in circumstances of anticipated litigation and that the wife held his share of matrimonial assets on trust for him, with the assets being grossly undervalued at the time of the orders. The wife denied these claims, asserting the husband had no interest in property in her name or controlled by her.

The court was required to determine whether the applicant husband should be permitted to adduce expert evidence from a certified practising valuer regarding the retrospective valuation of several properties as at July 2010 and currently. Additionally, the court considered the adequacy of the respondent wife's disclosure for the hearing of the discrete section 79A application. The court also had to assess the relevance of matters pertaining to an ongoing partnership between the parties, which was contemplated by the final property orders, to the determination of the section 79A application.

Hartnett J permitted the applicant husband to rely on expert evidence from Mr B, a certified practising valuer, for retrospective valuations of specified properties as at 21 July 2010. The respondent wife was also granted liberty to obtain and rely on her own expert witness evidence for retrospective valuations of the same properties as at that date. The court dismissed the husband's application to rely on expert evidence from Mr GG and Mr KK, finding their proposed evidence to be either unnecessary, irrelevant, or not of assistance to the court at that juncture. The court accepted submissions that alleged discrepancies in partnership accounts and the application of income generated by the wife's entities after the 2010 orders were not relevant to the section 79A application.

The court ordered that the husband's application to rely on the expert evidence of Mr GG and Mr KK be dismissed. The remainder of the application filed by the applicant husband on 22 April 2021 was also dismissed. The proceeding was listed for hearing in respect of the applicant husband’s application under section 79A of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) on a date to be fixed before Justice McGuire, with a case management hearing also to be scheduled.