Simred and Simred

In the matter of *Simred and Simred*, Guest J of the Family Court of Australia was required to determine issues arising from the division of property between a husband and wife. The specific dispute concerned the valuation of certain assets, namely the husband's interest in a business and his superannuation fund, which were central to the overall property settlement.

The primary legal issue before the Court was the need for updated valuations of the husband's business interests and his superannuation entitlements. These valuations were crucial for the Court to make a just and equitable distribution of the matrimonial assets. The Court needed to ascertain the current value of these significant assets to facilitate a final resolution of the property dispute.

Guest J ordered that updated valuations be obtained for the husband's interest in W Business, held via P Pty Ltd as trustee for the Simred Family Trust, and for his interest in the Super Fund. These valuations were to be provided by specific experts, Mr F for the business and Ms K for the superannuation, with the latter to provide valuations on two bases: the husband continuing to take a pension and the husband taking a lump sum benefit at age 64. The parties were directed to cooperate with the valuers and initially share the costs equally, with the final allocation of costs to be determined by the trial judge. All further proceedings and extant applications were referred to Justice Cronin.