Wellman and Wellman

In *Wellman & Wellman*, heard in the Family Court of Australia, the husband applied to vacate hearing dates scheduled for four days commencing 27 May 2014. The wife opposed this application.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether to grant the husband's application to vacate the hearing dates. This involved considering the husband's stated difficulties in preparing for the matter due to his solicitor recently being briefed, against the wife's opposition and the court's assessment of the complexity of the case.

Cleary J dismissed the husband's application to vacate the hearing dates. The court acknowledged the husband's solicitor's difficulties but found that the matter had been set down for hearing at a time when the issues were clearly known, and that the husband had previously agreed to the May dates. The court was not satisfied that the parenting issues were complex, noting the age of the youngest child and the likelihood of consent orders or future applications. The court considered it inappropriate to vacate the dates at that stage, suggesting that if the matter could not be concluded within the allocated four days, the position could be reassessed then. The court also noted an order sought by the husband for a valuation of New York property, to which the wife consented on specific conditions regarding the valuer and instructions, with the cost to be borne by the husband in the first instance. The wife's costs of the hearing were reserved.