Wheeldon & Wheeldon

This case concerned property settlement proceedings between a husband and wife, with Mrs. Wheeldon Senior also named as a respondent. The primary dispute involved the division of the parties' assets, including a property and the husband's superannuation entitlements. The matter came before Fowler J in the Family Court of Australia.

The court was required to determine the legal and beneficial ownership of a property, the division of a specific sum of money held in a credit union account, and the appropriate apportionment of the husband's superannuation interests. Specifically, the court had to consider the application of section 90MT(1)(b) of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) in relation to splittable payments from the husband's superannuation.

Fowler J ordered that the husband pay a specified sum from his credit union account to the wife and declared Mrs. Wheeldon Senior to be the sole legal and beneficial owner of the property at G. The court further made detailed orders regarding the husband's superannuation, entitling the wife to a percentage of both Category 1 and Category 2 splittable payments from his interest in the State Superannuation Scheme. These orders were to take effect from the date of the judgment, with provisions for the trustee to calculate and pay the wife's entitlements. In the event the trustee did not commence payments, the husband was personally liable to pay the wife her share of the splittable payments, with further provisions for automatic bank deductions and the potential commutation of the husband's pension. The court also declared each party to be the sole legal and beneficial owner of property in their possession, with liberty to restore on notice and provisions for the Registrar to execute documents if necessary.