Rafter and Rafter (No 3)

In *Rafter and Rafter (No 3)*, the Federal Court of Australia considered an application by the husband to set aside or vary a consent property order made on 14 November 2008, and also dealt with applications for spousal maintenance and costs. The court also addressed the payment of arrears of interim spousal maintenance and the costs associated with a single expert report.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the husband had established grounds to set aside or vary the existing consent property order under section 79A(1)(b) of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), and the appropriate orders to be made regarding spousal maintenance, including arrears, and the costs of a particular expert report. The court was also required to determine the procedural steps for the hearing of costs applications.

The court dismissed the husband's application to set aside or vary the consent property order. It ordered the husband to pay $23,000 to the wife to fulfil specific paragraphs of the 2008 consent order. Furthermore, the court ordered the husband to pay $500 per week in spousal maintenance from the date of the order until varied or discharged, and also ordered payment of arrears of interim spousal maintenance totalling $41,250 and $14,250 for specified periods. The wife's application for the husband to pay or contribute to the costs of a report by V Consulting was dismissed. The court then set out a timetable for the filing and service of materials and the hearing of costs applications, which was subsequently adjourned on medical grounds for the husband, with a new hearing date set for August 2012. Consent was given for medical reports to be annexed to affidavits without requiring the medical practitioners to file their own affidavits.