Rana & Rana

In the matter of *Rana & Rana*, heard by Bennett J, the applicant husband and respondent wife were involved in family law proceedings concerning property and parenting arrangements. The dispute before the court on this occasion related to litigation funding, costs, and interim parenting orders.

The court was required to determine the terms of litigation funding to be provided by the husband to the wife, the quantum of the wife's costs for a specific application, and to make orders regarding interim parenting arrangements for the parties' child, X. The court also considered the implications of a sale of a company, B Pty Ltd, on the parties' financial positions and the discharge of certain loans.

Bennett J ordered that following the husband expending $165,000 on his legal fees, he was to match every dollar thereafter paid to his solicitors with an equal sum paid to the wife's solicitors for her reasonable legal costs. The husband was also ordered to pay the wife's costs of her application filed on 24 August 2021 in the sum of $7,018. The court made detailed interim parenting orders concerning the child X's living arrangements, time spent with each parent, communication between parents, and specific provisions for school and extracurricular activities, including the use of a co-parenting application and professional counselling. The orders also addressed the sale of B Pty Ltd, permitting the discharge of secured loans and other liabilities from the sale proceeds, with the balance to be paid into specific accounts, subject to strict evidentiary requirements.