Selwood and Selwood (No. 2)

In *Selwood and Selwood (No. 2)*, Dawe J of the Family Court of Australia considered an application by the husband for a stay of financial orders made on 18 July 2014, pending the determination of his appeal against those orders. The wife opposed the stay, seeking to enforce the final orders, which included the sale of properties and her sole occupation of the former matrimonial home. The husband's appeal concerned a percentage adjustment to the property settlement and the wife's sole occupation of the former matrimonial home.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the husband's appeal would be rendered nugatory if a stay was not granted, and how to balance the wife's entitlement to the fruits of the judgment against the husband's right to pursue his appeal. The court also considered the husband's separate application for a variation of the final property settlement orders to meet past and future legal costs, which the wife opposed.

Dawe J applied the principles governing applications for a stay of execution pending appeal, considering the balance of convenience and the potential for the appeal to become academic. The court determined that a partial stay was warranted to preserve the subject matter of the appeal and prevent the wife from receiving the full benefit of the judgment before the appeal was heard. The court also addressed the husband's application for variation of orders, noting that such applications required careful consideration, particularly when they sought to alter the distribution of assets without providing for the other party.

The court ordered that certain paragraphs of the 18 July 2014 orders be stayed pending the determination of the appeal. Specifically, the husband and wife were each to receive $150,000 from the proceeds of sale of two specified properties, with these funds to be held in trust by their respective solicitors. The remaining proceeds of sale were to be deposited into a joint interest-bearing account pending further order.