Strahan and Strahan (No. 8)

In *Strahan and Strahan (No. 8)*, Strickland J of the Supreme Court of Western Australia was required to determine the appropriate orders concerning the valuation of certain assets in family law proceedings. The dispute involved the husband and wife, who were seeking to finalise the division of their matrimonial property.

The central legal issues before the court were how specific assets, including those located overseas and certain items of significant value, should be valued for the purposes of property settlement. The court also had to consider the practicalities of obtaining these valuations, including the appointment of valuers and the allocation of costs associated with these valuations.

Strickland J ordered that most of the assets listed in Schedule "A" be re-valued by the original valuer, with specific exceptions for items 7, 8, 24, and 26. The livestock in Switzerland (Item 25) was also to be re-valued. For the property at Item 24, a single expert valuer, agreed upon by the parties, was to conduct the valuation. The husband was to bear the initial costs of these valuations, with the wife's contribution to be determined at a later trial. The court set a deadline of 4:00 pm on 31 December 2008 for the completion and filing of the valuation reports. The costs of the hearing itself were reserved.