White & White

This matter concerned an appeal by the wife against orders made by a trial judge concerning property settlement and spousal maintenance. The wife contended that the trial judge had erred in several respects, including the determination of the matrimonial property pool, the assessment of contributions, the failure to find wilful dissipation of assets, and the exclusion of a licence agreement and post-separation monies from the pool. The wife also challenged the trial judge's findings regarding spousal maintenance arrears and the husband's capacity to pay.

The primary legal issues before the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia were whether the trial judge had made errors in: (a) calculating the matrimonial property pool and assessing the parties' contributions; (b) failing to find that the husband had wilfully dissipated matrimonial assets; (c) excluding a licence agreement negotiated before but settled after separation as a notional asset; (d) failing to "add-back" monies used by the husband post-separation; (e) determining the wife's claim for spousal maintenance arrears and the husband's capacity to pay; and (f) making adjustments under section 75(2) of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth).

The Full Court found that the conclusions reached by the trial judge were clearly open to her, and the asserted errors by the wife were not established. Specifically, the Court held that the trial judge was entitled to proceed on the basis that the claim for future spousal maintenance was abandoned, and there was no error in discharging maintenance arrears or in the orders made regarding the husband's capacity to pay. Furthermore, the Court found no merit in the grounds of appeal relating to the property settlement, including the assessment of contributions, the inclusion of assets, and the adjustments made under section 75(2).

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed. The Court also made orders regarding the filing of written submissions concerning the appeal against the costs order and any application for costs in relation to the property settlement appeal.