Vetsch and Yosufai & Ors

[2019] FamCA 310

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA

VETSCH & YOSUFAI AND ORS [2019] FamCA 310

FAMILY LAW – PROPERTY – Interim – Where the Respondent was in a relationship with each of the other parties to the proceedings – Where each of the parties is living in Australia, except for the Respondent – Where there are numerous properties which are the subject of this matter between the parties and a number are being foreclosed on – Where the Applicant and the Second Intervener are seeking to be able to live in two of these properties – Where a solicitor is appointed as Trustee for Sale of most of the remaining properties. 

APPLICANT: Ms Vetsch

RESPONDENT: Mr Yosufai

FIRST INTERVENER: Ms Devereux

SECOND INTERVENER: Ms Sultan

FILE NUMBER: BRC 10889 of 2016

DATE DELIVERED: 15 May 2019

PLACE DELIVERED: Brisbane

PLACE HEARD: Brisbane

JUDGMENT OF: Forrest J

HEARING DATE: 14 May 2019

REPRESENTATION

SOLICITOR FOR THE APPLICANT: Ms Johnson
Quinn & Scattini

THE RESPONDENT: Self-represented (by telephone)

THE FIRST INTERVENER: Self-represented

THE SECOND INTERVENER: Self-represented

Orders

1. That Mr G, solicitor of Brisbane, be appointed as Trustee for Sale of the following real properties and the properties vest in him for the purposes of sale:

   (i)J Street, Suburb E in the State of Queensland more particularly described as ... on SP… Title Reference… registered in the names of Mr Yosufai and Ms Sultan;

   (ii)W Street, Suburb L in the State of Queensland more particularly described as Lot… on SP…, Title Reference… registered in the names of Mr Yosufai and Ms Sultan; 

   (iii)V Street,  in the State of Queensland more particularly described as Lot … on SP… Title Reference… registered in the name of (Mr Yosufai) Pty Ltd as trustee;

   (iv)C Street, Suburb A in the State of Queensland more particularly described as Lot … on SP …, Title Reference … registered in the name (Mr Yosufai) Pty Ltd as trustee.

2. That Mr G also be appointed as Trustee for Sale of the following real properties and that the properties vest in him for the purposes of sale:

   (i)H Street, Suburb L in the State of Queensland more particularly described as Lots ... and … on RP …, Title Reference … registered in the names of Mr and Ms Sultan;

   (ii)R Street, Suburb N in the State of Queensland more particularly described as Lot … on SP …. Title Reference … registered in the name of Mr Yosufai.

3. That upon appointment as Trustee for Sale of the above listed properties, Mr G shall negotiate with the National Australia Bank which is the mortgagee of at least the properties listed as (i) – (iii) of paragraph 1 hereof as well as three other real properties, namely:

   (i)M Street, Suburb N in the State of Queensland registered in the names of Mr Yosufai and Ms Vetsch;

   (ii)T Street, Suburb L in the State of Queensland registered in the names of Mr Yosufai and Ms Devereux; and

   (iii)W Street, Suburb L in the State of Queensland registered in the name of Mr Yosufai; 

   with a view to persuading the National Australia Bank to refrain, for the time being, from exercising its power of sale over any of the properties listed in paragraphs 1 and 3 hereof. 

4. That upon appointment as Trustee for Sale of the above listed properties, Mr G shall also negotiate with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia which is the mortgagee of at least the properties listed as (i) – (ii) of paragraph 2 hereof with a view to persuading the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to refrain, for the time being, from exercising its power of sale over any of the properties listed in paragraph 2 hereof.

5. That should Mr G be unable to persuade the National Australia Bank to refrain, for the time being, from exercising its power of sale over any of the properties listed in paragraphs 1 and 3 hereof his appointment as Trustee for Sale of the real properties listed in paragraph 1 hereof shall cease.

6. That should Mr G be unable to persuade the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to refrain, for the time being, from exercising its power of sale over any of the properties listed in paragraph 2 hereof his appointment as Trustee for Sale of those real properties listed in paragraph 2 hereof shall cease. 

7. That should Mr G be able to sell any or both of the real properties listed as (i) and (ii) in paragraph 1 hereof, the proceeds of sale shall be used to discharge all the usual, reasonable costs of sale and to discharge the mortgage secured over the property or properties that is/are sold before Mr G then uses the balance proceeds to pay himself for his reasonable fees in acting as Trustee for Sale pursuant to these Orders to that point in time, with the balance sale proceeds to be deposited to Mr S. Trust Account to be held on trust for Mr Yosufai and Ms Sultan in an interest bearing account.

8. That out of the said interest bearing account referred to in paragraph 7 hereof, Mr G shall ensure that all arrears of the loan secured by mortgage to the National Australia Bank over the real property at M Street, Suburb N are immediately discharged and that, until further order, the monthly repayments on that loan are paid as and when they fall due.

9. That out of the said interest bearing account referred to in paragraph 7 hereof, Mr G shall also ensure that all arrears of the loan secured by mortgage to the National Australia Bank over the real property at W Street, Suburb L are immediately discharged and that, until further order, the monthly repayments on that loan are paid as and when they fall due.

10. That out of the said interest bearing account referred to in paragraph 7 hereof, Mr G shall ensure that all arrears of the loan secured by mortgage to the National Australia Bank over the real property at  T Street, Suburb L registered in the names of Ms Devereux and Mr Yosufai are immediately discharged and that, until further order, the monthly repayments on that loan are paid as and when they fall due.

11. That should Mr G be able to sell any or both of the real properties listed as (i) and (ii) in paragraph 2 hereof, the proceeds of sale shall be used to discharge all the usual, reasonable costs of sale and to discharge the mortgage secured over the property or properties that is/are sold and any other debts of the husband, Mr Yosufai, to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia such as for any existing credit card debts and any other loan accounts before Mr G then uses the balance proceeds to pay himself for any of his reasonable fees in acting as Trustee for Sale pursuant to these Orders that remain unpaid to that point in time, with the balance sale proceeds to be deposited to Mr S. Trust Account to be held on trust for Mr Yosufai and Ms Sultan in respect of the H StreetH Street, Suburb L property in an interest bearing account which is to be the same interest bearing account referred to at the end of paragraph 7 hereof and to be held on trust for Mr Yosufai in respect of the R Property, Suburb N Property in a separate interest bearing account.

12. That should Mr G be able to sell any or both of the real properties listed as (iii) and (iv) in paragraph 1 hereof, the proceeds of sale shall be used to discharge all the usual, reasonable costs of sale and to discharge the mortgage to the National Australia Bank that is secured over the property or properties that is/are sold before Mr G then uses the balance proceeds to pay himself for any of his reasonable fees in acting as Trustee for Sale pursuant to these Orders that remain unpaid to that point in time, with the balance sale proceeds to be deposited to the NAB “Super Fund” account ending in numbers … which only Mr G shall be authorised to operate upon from the time of these Orders until further order.

13. That Mr G is also appointed, until further order, to act as trustee for the Self-Managed Superannuation Fund of Mr Yosufai and Ms F, retaining any such expert assistance he requires to ensure that all and any outstanding debts to the Australian Taxation Office, including any penalties, are paid from the assets of the superannuation fund, to ensure that the financial statements, tax returns and audits for the said Self-Managed Superannuation Fund are brought up to date and that the said fund becomes a compliant fund once again and so that the current member entitlements of Mr Yosufai and Ms F are determined.

14. That, until further husband, the Respondent husband is restrained from:

    (i)Further encumbering any of the real properties listed in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 hereof;

    (ii)Withdrawing or transferring any money in the NAB “Super Fund” account ending in the numbers …;

    (iii)Incurring any further credit on any credit card already issued by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia or the National Australia Bank and from applying for any further credit cards, loans or credit facilities with either of those banks.

15. That should the National Australia Bank agree to refrain from exercising a power of sale over the properties listed in paragraph 1 hereof in favour of Mr G acting as Trustee for Sale of those properties, but not agree to accept the obligations imposed upon Mr G by these Orders that are drafted to ensure that on an interim basis the Applicant, Ms Vetsch, may continue to enjoy possession of the property at M Street, Suburb N and that on an interim basis the Second Intervener, Ms Sultan, may enjoy the possession of the property at W Street, Suburb L, then Mr G is also appointed as Trustee for Sale of those two properties and may, if the National Australia Bank will in those circumstances, refrain from exercising its power of sale over those said two properties, sell those properties and use the proceeds of sale to pay all the usual, reasonable costs of sale and to discharge the mortgage/s secured over the property or properties that is/are sold before Mr G then uses the balance proceeds to pay himself for any of his reasonable fees in acting as Trustee for Sale pursuant to these Orders that remain unpaid to that point in time, with the balance sale proceeds to be deposited to Mr S. Trust Account to be held on trust for Mr Yosufai and Ms Vetsch in respect of the proceeds of sale of the M Street, Suburb N Property, and on trust for Mr Yosufai in respect of the proceeds of sale of the W Street, Suburb L property, to be invested in interest bearing accounts until further order. 

16. That until further order or earlier sale of the said property by the National Australia Bank as mortgagee exercising the power of sale or Mr G acting as Trustee for Sale pursuant to these orders, the Applicant, Ms Vetsch, shall be entitled to solely occupy the property at M Street, Suburb N in the State of Queensland to the exclusion of the Respondent husband.

17. That until further order or earlier sale of the said property by the National Australia Bank as mortgagee exercising the power of sale or Mr G acting as Trustee for Sale pursuant to these orders, the Second Intervener, Ms Sultan, shall be entitled to solely occupy (along with her adult children) the property at W Street, Suburb L in the State of Queensland to the exclusion of the Respondent husband.

18. That the Trustee be entitled to sell the properties under these orders by such method as he deems appropriate in the circumstances including but not limited to sale by auction or by private treaty.

19. That upon the Trustee giving 7 days’ notice to any person or persons in occupation of the properties, that the Trustee requires vacant possession of the property to complete sales, they shall provide vacant possession to the Trustee by delivering to him or his duly appointed agent in writing, all keys and security devices subject however to occupancy rights of any person in occupation under any enforceable written lease or tenancy agreement evidence of which shall be given to the Trustee upon request by him.

20. That in the event of sale by private treaty the Trustee shall determine the appropriate marketing of the property concerned including listing price from time to time, the appointment of any agent or agents for the sale of the property concerned and the terms and conditions of such appointment or appointments.

21. That in the event of sale by auction:

    a)The Trustee shall determine the appropriate marketing campaign for the property including a marketing budget for advertising, the appointment of any agent or agents for the sale of the property and the terms and conditions of such appointment or appointments;

    b)The Trustee shall determine the reserve price for the auction after consultation         with the auctioneer and considering any recommendations of the            auctioneer;

    c)Should either of the parties be the successful bidder at auction, the Trustee is authorized to sell to that party without a requirement that the purchasing party pay a deposit at the time of execution of the contract;

    d)The Trustee may, but is not obliged to obtain a valuation of the property for the purposes of setting the reserve price at any auction.

22. That the Trustee is authorised to expend money on the properties in preparation for their sale, using the recommendations of any agent in that regard.

23. That pending sale, the Respondent husband shall pay or cause to be paid all outgoings on the properties including rates, local authority charges, body corporate charges (if any), and maintain adequate fire, general and Public Risk liability insurance on the properties and provide evidence of same to the Trustee as requested by him from time to time to enable the Trustee to have his interest noted on any policies of insurance in respect of the real estate the subject of trust created by this Order and, in default, the trustee is authorised to use any of the proceeds of sale of any of the properties for these purposes.

24. That the Trustee is hereby indemnified by the owners or co-owners of the property against any claims made against him upon becoming registered owner as trustee on title, consequent upon a failure to pay any of the outgoings of the nature described in the preceding Order.

25. That the Trustee by virtue of the vesting order herein, is empowered to sign on behalf of previous registered owners, all real estate listing authorities, mortgage discharge authorities and other transfer and relevant documents required by the Land Titles office that are necessary for the conveyancing process or are necessary to complete the settlement of a sale.

26. That Mr G’s appointments pursuant to these Orders are all subject to him accepting them and should he not accept them he shall notify the Court forthwith so that consideration can be given to the further listing of the matter before his Honour Justice Forrest.

27. That Mr G is authorised to be able to inspect the Court file in this matter and to have copies made for him of any document, including affidavits, filed by any of the parties, that are on the file.

28. That copies of a sealed copy of these Orders shall be sent by the Senior Registrar of the Brisbane Registry of this Court to the National Australia Bank, through Ms B and Mr K, T Firm, solicitors of Brisbane and to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia at such address as the Senior Registrar determines appropriate.

29. That the further mention of the matter before a Registrar on 27 June 2019 is vacated.

30. That the matter is listed for further mention before his Honour Justice Forrest at 10.00 am on Tuesday, 10 September 2019 which each of the parties and Mr G, having liberty to apply to relist the matter back before his Honour sooner than that should it be considered necessary or appropriate.

Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry of the order in the Court’s records.

IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment by this Court under the pseudonym Vetsch & Yosufai and Ors has been approved by the Chief Justice pursuant to s 121(9)(g) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

Note: This copy of the Court’s Reasons for Judgment may be subject to review to remedy minor typographical or grammatical errors (r 17.02A(b) of the Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth)), or to record a variation to the order pursuant to r 17.02 Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth).

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA AT BRISBANE

FILE NUMBER: BRC 10889 of 2016

Ms Vetsch

Applicant

And

Mr Yosufai

Respondent

And

Ms Devereux

First Intervener

And

Ms Sultan

Second Intervener

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

1. This matter came before me on Tuesday, 14 May, for judicial management at the direction of a Registrar. It is a complicated and rather difficult matter that has been before the Court since the Applicant commenced the proceedings in 2016.

The Applicant and the Respondent

1. The Applicant, Ms Vetsch, and the Respondent, Mr Yosufai, were in a de facto relationship for a few years from around 2012 to 2016. They had no children together but they did purchase a property together and renovated it. Their names are jointly on the title to that property and Ms Vetsch continues to live in it.

2. That property at M Street, Suburb N, is said to be worth about $850,000. It is mortgaged to the National Australia Bank (“the NAB”) and the debt on that property was said to be around $505,000 in late March this year.

3. There is no dispute that Ms Vetsch contributed a substantial sum of money, obtained from a property settlement with her previous partner, towards the purchase of the property.

4. It is apparent on the evidence that the loan is in default and the NAB want to sell the property to recover what is owed to it.

5. Ms Vetsch lives in the property and wishes to continue to do so. It seems she cannot afford to make the mortgage payments on her own.

The Respondent and the First Intervener

1. The Respondent and the First Intervener, Ms Devereux, were, interestingly, also in a de facto relationship which began around 2013. It is unclear at this stage when that relationship actually finished. Two young children were born of that relationship. They continue to live with their mother. They live in a property situated at T Street, Suburb L that the Respondent and Ms Devereux bought together. It is registered in their joint names.

2. That property is said to be worth about $400,000. It, too, is mortgaged to the NAB and the debt on that property is around $327,115 at the moment. It is apparent on the evidence that the loan on that property is not currently in default and that the bank is not wanting to sell the property at the moment.

3. Though the evidence shows that the loan went into default in July last year, it also shows that Ms Devereux has brought it back to order and continues to pay the loan instalments as they fall due. She does that, as well as supporting herself and her two children financially without any apparent financial assistance from the Respondent at all.

4. The Respondent is in substantial arrears of child support payments in respect of his two young children with Ms Devereux.

The Respondent and the Second Intervener

1. The Respondent and the Second Intervener, Ms Sultan, were lawfully married in 1994. They have three children. The two eldest are young adults. The youngest is around 14 years of age. They separated in or around 2012 and their marriage was dissolved in 2017.

2. The Respondent and Ms F own a number of real properties together – registered in joint names. They include properties at:

   (i)       J Street, Suburb E;

   (ii)     W Street, Suburb L; and

   (iii)    H Street, Suburb L.

3. Notwithstanding that fact, Ms F and their three children currently live in a home at R property, Suburb N that is registered in the Respondent’s sole name.

4. The Respondent also solely owns another property at W Street, Suburb L into which Ms F wants to move. She wants to take ownership of that property from the Respondent and says that a Binding Financial Agreement that they executed at some point in the past entitles her to receive that property debt free or relatively debt free. The problem for Ms F currently is this – that property is said to be worth $550,000 and it secures debt owed to the NAB by way of mortgage in the sum of approximately $66,000 and approximately $275,192 and the NAB wants to sell it to recover the money that is owed to it. Those loans are apparently in default.

1. In addition, the property situated at R property in which Ms F and the three children live is said to be worth $560,000 but it is mortgaged to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (“the CBA”) and secures a debt of about $430,000. The CBA wants to sell that property to recover the money owed to it. The loan is apparently in default.

2. The Respondent does not oppose Ms F moving into the property at W Street.

3. The Respondent is in arrears of child support in respect of the 14 year old child he has with Ms F.

4. The evidence also suggests that the Respondent husband and Ms F have a loan owing to the CBA that was just under $80,000 in March this year. I can only presume it is secured by the mortgages the CBA holds over the H Street, Suburb L and R Street property, Suburb N properties.

The Respondent

1. The Respondent is a medical specialist. He has, I understand, been disbarred from practicing in Australia for matters that do not need to be discussed for the purposes of these reasons.

2. In June last year, he returned to Country A to care for his elderly mother. He has not been back to Australia since. He stopped making payments on all of the mortgages on all the properties then. This fact seemingly explains the current attitudes of the NAB and the CBA in respect of taking action to sell the properties and recover the money owed to them.

3. The Respondent has remarried in Country A and has a new baby daughter with his current wife. They live in the home of the Respondent’s elderly mother.

4. It is not clear whether the Respondent is practicing psychiatric medicine or doing any other work in Country A.  

5. The Respondent husband made an appearance by telephone at the mention of the matter before me on Tuesday, 14 May 2019. He told the Court he had no present intention of returning to Australia in the near future.

6. The Respondent husband also is in substantial debt to the CBA in respect of credit cards. As at the end of March this year, he owed $37,000 on a CBA Mastercard but also had a CBA Platinum Mastercard with an undisclosed debt on it.

The self-managed superannuation fund

1. The adult daughter of the Respondent husband and Ms F, Ms F, was present in the Court on Tuesday, 14 May. She told the Court that she and her father were trustees of a self-managed superannuation fund (“SMSF”) and that she thought she was a member of the fund, although she is a medical student at the moment.

2. She told the Court that the fund has some assets. It owns a “warehouse” property at V Street, Suburb A that is said to be worth $370,000. It also owns commercial premises at C Street, Suburb A that are said to be worth $250,000. The latter premises are the premises out of which the Respondent conducted his medical practice. The adult daughter told the Court that both those properties are empty and not earning any rental income for the superannuation fund.

3. Title searches, however, reveal that these two properties are registered in the name of a company, Mr Yosufai Pty Ltd, as trustee. As such, it would seem that the adult daughter may be mistaken when she asserted to the Court that she and her father are the trustees of the fund. The fund appears to have a corporate trustee. The adult daughter and the Respondent husband may be directors of that corporate trustee but I do not know for certain.

4. There is said to be a debt owed by the superannuation fund to the NAB for an amount of around $184,000 that is described as a business loan but which was presumably incurred to purchase one of the two commercial properties, under the limited recourse loan arrangements that superannuation funds are permitted to enter into.

5. There was also said to be around $58,000 in an NAB account in the superannuation fund’s name, at least as at the end of March 2019.

6. Ms F said that she did not know when the last set of financial statements for the SMSF were done or how much her member entitlement in the fund is. It is not absolutely clear that she is, in fact, a member of the superannuation fund.

7. The Respondent husband said the last set of financial statements were done in 2015 or 2016.

8. The Respondent husband also included in the last balance sheet that he filed in late March this year, a debt to the Australian Taxation Office of $33,400 owed by the SMSF.

9. Neither the Respondent husband nor Ms F opposed the appointment of a trustee for the sale of the properties owned by the superannuation fund. None of the female parties did either.

The course of the mention and my determination

1. It quickly became clear to me on reading the affidavits, financial statements, balance sheets and applications filed in this matter to date and hearing from all four parties, that there is urgent need to take steps to address the fact that the NAB and the CBA might be about to take action to sell the properties that are secured in their favour with mortgages.

2. The First Intervener, Ms Devereux, adduced into evidence a letter from the NAB’s solicitors advising her that the property in which she lives with her two young children at T Street, Suburb L is currently safe as she has been paying the loan repayment instalments as required.

3. However, the property in which the Applicant lives at M Street, Suburb N is at risk of sale by the NAB and the property in which Ms Sultan lives with her three children at R Street, Suburb N is also at risk of sale by the CBA.

4. Apart from the two empty properties owned by the SMSF, the two properties at J Street, Suburb E and W Street, Suburb L which are mortgaged to the NAB could be sold. The W Street property is a vacant block of land and the J Street property is a residential house property. Together, those two properties are said to be worth $1,400,000. The J Street property is said to be worth $1,000,000 and the W Street property is said to be worth $400,000. The J Street property secures a debt of $667,718 and the W Street property secures a debt of $392,682 (at least that is what the husband said the debts were in his balance sheet of late March 2019). Prima facie, that leaves potential equity of around $340,000 before costs of sale are deducted after their sale and $1,060,400 worth of debt is paid out.

5. If the superannuation fund’s properties were sold that is potentially another debt of $184,253 owing to the NAB that would be paid out as well.

6. That would leave, in respect of properties secured by the NAB, the properties at M Street, Suburb N which is said to be worth $850,000 with a debt of around $505,000 secured over it, and at W Street, Suburb L said to be worth $550,000 with debts of around $341,000 secured over it.

7. The NAB may be able to be persuaded to permit the sale of the other properties before these last two properties have to be sold, if the equity realised from the sale of the others is then used to bring the loans on these last two properties into order and to keep them in order at least in the short term.

8. At the same time, if the H Street, Suburb L property and the R Street, Suburb N property are also sold, after the CBA mortgages are discharged as much as $250,000 in net funds could be realised from which the CBA credit card debt/s could be paid leaving the rest of the funds available to be contributed further to debt reduction of the remaining NAB debts.

9. I proposed this potential course to the three female parties who were in Court before me. Each of them supported it. Each of them considered it was worth trying.

10. The Respondent husband initially was reticent. In particular, he raised concerns about selling the J Street property as he said that he might like to move back into that property with his current wife and child if they return to Australia. When asked though, he could not say when he might return to Australia or just how the properties could otherwise be saved if that property is not sold.

11. I informed him that, in the circumstances, I would not be prepared to make orders that did not deal with that property as I saw it as a central part of the process by which an orderly reduction of debt could be achieved whilst providing all three women (and the children who live with two of them) a home in the short term, at least.

12. Accordingly, I determined that the orders I will make will include appointing Mr G, who is an experienced, well-respected and trusted solicitor who has undertaken this sort of work at the order of the Court on many occasions, as trustee for the sale of the properties and as trustee for the SMSF with the task of getting it back into compliant status, out of debt and up to date with its tax returns and financial statements including determining the current member entitlements of its members.

13. Of course, Mr G’s appointment is subject to and conditional upon his acceptance of the appointment and willingness to undertake the delicate task of negotiating with the NAB and the CBA to try and have them refrain from acting to sell all the properties at this immediate stage. He would also, of course, be authorised to charge reasonable fees for the work he undertakes and to ensure he is paid those fees from the sale proceeds of the properties he sells.

14. The balance of the proceeds of the sale of the properties would be required to be invested in trust, in interest bearing accounts, by Mr G. In respect of the properties at J Street, Suburb E and W Street, Suburb L, the balance of the proceeds of sale of those two properties would be required to be used to pay the arrears still owing on the properties occupied by the Applicant, Ms Vetsch, and the property at W Street, Suburb L that Ms F wants to move into. The money would then also be required to be used to make the repayments on the loans secured by mortgages over all three properties occupied by the three female parties to these proceedings until further order. It is hoped orders such as this will make it possible for Mr G to persuade the NAB to hold off from acting to sell all those three properties as well.

15. At the same time as the orders will authorise Mr G to act as trustee to sell the properties owned by the SMSF, they will also authorise him to be trustee for the fund so as to bring it back into order and make it a complying fund again. He will be authorised to retain expert assistance in that process and he will be able to pay for that from the proceeds of sale of the properties.

16. The Respondent husband will be immediately restrained from withdrawing or transferring any money from the SMSF’s bank account and only Mr G will be authorised to operate upon that account until further order. The Respondent husband will also be restrained from further encumbering any of the real properties or incurring any further credit on any card already issued by the CBA or the NAB and from applying for any further credit cards, loans or credit facilities with either of those banks. That way the equity in all of the properties over which those two banks have mortgages is protected as well as it can be. I am satisfied that otherwise there is a serious risk that such equity might be further eroded by the husband’s unilateral expenditure whilst he remains in Country A.

17. I will make Orders providing sole use and exclusive occupancy of the relevant properties to the Applicant and to Ms F until further order, just to make that clear.

18. I will order that the Senior Registrar of the Brisbane Registry of this Court bring the Orders to the attention of the NAB and the CBA as quickly as possible.

19. I will vacate the current mention date listed before the Registrar on 27 June and list the matter back before me on 10 September, with all the parties and Mr G having liberty to bring the matter back before me earlier if necessary.

20. I make the Orders set out at the commencement of these written reasons.

I certify that the preceding fifty (53) paragraphs are a true copy of the reasons for judgment of the Honourable Justice Forrest delivered on 15 May 2019.

Associate: 

Date:  15 May 2019