Stuart and Bland

The matter of *Stuart and Bland* came before Tree J in the Family Court of Australia. The dispute concerned an application to vary an existing order regarding weekly payments. The applicant sought to decrease the amount payable under the order up until a specified date and to vary the amount payable thereafter.

The central legal issue before the court was whether to vary the existing order concerning weekly payments, specifically by reducing the amount payable for a defined period and increasing it thereafter. This required the court to consider the circumstances justifying such a variation and the appropriate figures to be substituted into the order.

Tree J determined that a variation of the existing order was warranted. The court ordered that the amount payable under the order be decreased to $750 per week up until 6 September 2013. Going forward from 6 September 2013, the amount payable was varied to $1250 per week. The costs of the hearing were reserved.