Russell and Russell

In the matter of *Russell and Russell*, heard by Judge Small, the wife sought to dismiss the husband's divorce application. The husband had filed for divorce, asserting that the marriage had irretrievably broken down. The wife's response aimed to prevent the divorce from being granted.

The central legal issues before the court were whether the marriage had irretrievably broken down, whether the husband was domiciled in Australia, and whether proper arrangements had been made for the care, welfare, and development of the parties' only child, who was under the age of eighteen. The court was required to be satisfied on these points before it could grant a divorce order.

Judge Small found that the marriage was proved and that the husband had been domiciled in Australia at all material times. Crucially, the court was satisfied that the marriage had indeed broken down irretrievably, fulfilling the statutory ground for divorce. Furthermore, the court was satisfied that proper arrangements had been made for the child of the marriage, who was born in 2008. Consequently, the wife's application to dismiss the divorce was dismissed. A divorce order was made, to take effect one month from the date of the court's orders.