Siebel and Siebel and Anor

In the matter of *Siebel and Siebel and Anor*, Judge Blake of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia considered an application for property settlement between a husband (the Applicant) and his wife (the First Respondent), with their son (the Second Respondent) also involved due to a property dispute. The Applicant husband sought an adjournment, which was refused, and he failed to attend court. Consequently, the court proceeded to hear the matter undefended and granted the application to proceed on that basis.

The central legal issues before the court were whether a property registered in the name of the Second Respondent was held on a constructive, implied, or resulting trust for the Applicant and First Respondent, and if so, whether this property should be included in the divisible asset pool. The court was also required to determine the division of the remaining, otherwise modest, property pool.

Judge Blake found that the property registered in the Second Respondent's name was indeed the property of the Second Respondent and not held on trust for the parties. The court's reasoning led to orders that reflected the First Respondent's proposal for the division of the remaining assets. These orders included the retention of motor vehicles by each party, the husband vacating the real property within seven days, and directions for the removal of a caveat lodged by the husband against the title of the property. The court also authorised persons to ensure the prompt delivery of vacant possession of the property to the Second Respondent and the implementation of the orders, and restrained the husband from dealing with the property or its contents. The parties were otherwise entitled to property in their possession, with specific provisions for chattels and liabilities.