Stephens & Stephens and Ors

In *Stephens & Stephens and Ors*, Coleman J considered an application by the wife for the enforcement of property settlement orders made by Strickland J, which had been upheld by the Full Court and the High Court. The husband contended that he lacked sufficient personal funds to satisfy the orders, asserting that the monies in question belonged to the parties' children's trusts and that the Court lacked jurisdiction to order their release to the wife. The wife also sought interest on the outstanding judgment sum and interlocutory injunctive relief for security for costs.

The primary legal issues before the Court were whether it had the jurisdiction and power to order the release of funds held by stakeholders to satisfy the wife's entitlement, despite the husband's claims regarding trust ownership. The Court was also required to determine whether interest should be payable on the outstanding balance, and if so, for what period and at what rate, and whether security for costs should be granted.

Coleman J reasoned that the issues concerning the ownership and disposition of the funds had been conclusively determined by the High Court. His Honour noted that orders made under s 106B of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) by the trial judge had the effect that the funds were not solely the property of the children's trusts, and to the extent they were, the wife was an object of the trust and the husband had legal control. Furthermore, the funds in question had been removed from the trusts. Consequently, the Court found no impediment to ordering the stakeholders to release the funds to the wife. Regarding interest, the Court declined to make an order under s 117B(2) for a different period but exercised its discretion under s 117B(1) to adopt an interest rate of 2 per cent above the RBA cash rate. The Court also granted interlocutory injunctive relief for security for costs, finding a real and substantial risk that the wife would be unable to recover her costs if the fund were not preserved.

The Court ordered the stakeholders to pay the wife the outstanding principal sum of $996,362.18 and interest of $500,647.98. A sum of $500,000 was to be invested pending the determination of various costs liabilities. The balance of the funds held by the stakeholders was to be paid to the husband upon his written specification. The Court also discharged a previous order and set timelines for written submissions regarding the wife's application for costs.