Vranic and Vranic & Ors

In the matter of *Vranic and Vranic & Ors*, Cohen J of the Family Court of Australia considered a dispute concerning a property transaction allegedly intended to defeat claims in family law proceedings. The proceedings involved the husband, the wife, and a third respondent, M Pty Limited, which held legal title to a property.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether M Pty Limited held its legal interest in the property at N in trust for the husband, and consequently, whether the property could be made available to satisfy the wife's claims in the family law proceedings. This required the Court to examine the nature of the transaction by which M Pty Limited acquired the property and its relationship with the husband.

Cohen J reasoned that the evidence established that M Pty Limited held the legal title to the property in trust for the husband. The Court applied principles of trust law and family law, finding that the transaction was structured in a way that effectively concealed the husband's beneficial interest in the property. Accordingly, the Court declared that M Pty Limited held its legal interest in the property in trust for the husband.

The Court ordered that M Pty Limited must, within one month, take all necessary steps to transfer its legal and equitable estate in the property to Mr P, the Trustee in Bankruptcy of the husband's property. Costs in the proceedings were reserved, and the matter was to be transferred to the Sydney Registry.