Whooten and Frost (deceased)

In the matter of *Whooten and Frost (deceased)*, Cronin J considered an application by a wife for property settlement under section 79 of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). The application was made in circumstances where there was an ongoing appeal against previous orders made on 29 November 2017.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the wife's application for property settlement should be stayed pending the outcome of the appeal. The court also had to determine the fate of two other applications filed by the wife and the respondents, respectively.

Cronin J reasoned that it was appropriate to stay the wife's property settlement application until the appeal was determined. This approach aimed to avoid potentially conflicting or duplicative proceedings and to ensure that any property settlement orders were made in light of the final determination of the appeal. The court also dismissed the other two applications, indicating that they were not to proceed at that time.

Consequently, the court ordered that the wife's application for property settlement be stayed pending the determination of the appeal. The applications filed by the wife on 30 August 2017 and by the respondents on 14 December 2017 were otherwise dismissed.