Skelley and Skelley

This matter concerned an application by a husband and wife for final property orders. The dispute centred on the division of the net proceeds of sale of the former matrimonial home and the wife's claim for spousal maintenance. The court was also required to consider orders relating to the husband's efforts to recover certain investment monies from Thailand.

The primary legal issues before the court were the appropriate division of the net proceeds from the sale of the former matrimonial home, whether spousal maintenance should be ordered, and how to address the husband's overseas investments in the context of the property settlement. The court also needed to determine the terms of any orders concerning the recovery of these Thai investment monies and their potential inclusion in the property pool.

Johnston JR ordered that the net proceeds of sale of the former matrimonial home be divided, with the wife receiving $654,141 and the husband receiving $485,859, and any balance to be split 57.38% to the wife and 42.62% to the husband. The wife's application for spousal maintenance was dismissed. The court also made detailed orders regarding the division of household contents and other property. Crucially, the court mandated that the husband take all necessary steps to recover investment monies from Thailand, including obtaining legal advice, instituting proceedings if advised, and providing regular updates to the wife. Any monies recovered were to be split 50% to the wife after deduction of legal costs and disbursements, with the husband to bear these costs in the first instance. The husband was restrained from dealing with recovered monies except to comply with the order for payment to the wife. The orders were to commence operation on 6 July 2010.