WEST & MARLEY (NO.2)

In the matter of WEST & MARLEY (NO.2), Bell J of the Family Court of Australia considered a dispute concerning a de facto relationship and related parenting matters. The applicant sought to establish a de facto relationship for the purposes of property division under the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth).

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the parties were in a de facto relationship on 1 March 2009, the relevant date for jurisdiction under the Act. A secondary issue concerned the living arrangements and time spent with the parties' three children, given their attachment to the matrimonial home and the importance of property distribution to these arrangements.

Bell J determined that the applicant had not discharged the onus of proving a de facto relationship existed on or after 1 March 2009, and therefore declared that the de facto relationship had ended on or about 26 October 2007. Consequently, the court lacked jurisdiction to determine a property application. However, in relation to the children, the court varied existing interim orders to provide for the father to spend time with them on alternate weekends and for half of the school holidays. The children's matters were adjourned pending the determination of any property application, with a view to setting the matter down for further hearing.