York and Jones

This matter concerned an application by the husband to revoke the approval of a Section 87 maintenance agreement entered into between the husband and wife. The parties had married in 1974, separated in 1986, and executed a Section 87 Deed in 1988 to settle their financial matters, which was approved by the Family Court of Australia. Over time, the parties had taken steps to implement the deed and had informally varied its terms. In 1993, the wife commenced proceedings seeking specific performance of certain provisions of the deed, and in those proceedings, an application was also made to revoke the approval of the Section 87 Deed.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the approval of the Section 87 Deed ought to be revoked. Specifically, the court was required to determine if the conditions for revocation under Section 87(8) of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth) were met. The husband sought revocation based on the grounds that it had become impracticable to carry out certain provisions of the agreement due to circumstances that had arisen since its approval, and that the parties desired the revocation of the approval.

The court noted that an application for revocation under Section 87(8)(b) requires the consent of both parties. In this instance, the husband presented submissions and gave oral evidence supporting the revocation, and a written consent signed by both parties and their solicitors was tendered into evidence. The court considered the evidence, including the original Section 87 Deed, a taxation ruling, and the parties' written consent. The court's reasoning focused on the requirement for mutual desire for revocation as stipulated in Section 87(8)(b).

The court ordered the revocation of the approval of the Section 87 Deed. This outcome was based on the finding that both parties, through their solicitors and in writing, had expressed their desire for the revocation of the approval, satisfying the requirements of Section 87(8)(b) of the Act.