Senior & Anderson

In the matter of *Senior & Anderson*, Young J of the Family Court of Australia considered an agreement executed by a husband and wife on or about 27 July 2009. The dispute concerned the validity and enforceability of this agreement, with the husband seeking to have it declared a financial agreement pursuant to section 90D of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth).

The court was required to determine whether the agreement, as drafted, met the requirements of section 90D of the *Family Law Act 1975* and, if not, whether it could be rectified to accord with the provisions of that section. The court also had to consider the impact of recent legislative amendments, specifically Schedule 5 of the amending legislation, which came into operation on 4 January 2010 and had retrospective effect to agreements made on or after 27 December 2000.

Young J's reasoning was heavily influenced by the legislative intent behind the amendments, which were enacted to overcome the effect of the Full Court's decision in *Black v Black*. Parliamentary materials, including the Second Reading Speeches of the Attorney-General and Senator Carr, and the Explanatory Memoranda, indicated a clear intention to relax certain technical requirements for financial agreements to restore confidence in their binding nature and enforceability, preventing parties from avoiding them on mere technicalities. The court found that the agreement executed by the parties fell within the scope of these retrospective amendments.

Consequently, the court declared that the agreement executed by the husband and wife was a financial agreement pursuant to section 90D of the *Family Law Act 1975*. The court further ordered that the financial agreement and annexed Solicitor's Certificates be rectified to accord with the provisions of section 90D. Paragraph 1 of the wife's amended application was dismissed, costs were reserved to the trial judge, and the hearing of extant applications was listed for a continuing defended hearing.