Another De Facto Wife Successful in Interim Maintenance Application

De Facto Wife Successful in Interim Maintenance Application

Our client had been in a relationship with her partner (“the Husband” for ease of reference), for about a decade. There was one young child of the relationship living almost exclusively with our client. She needed financial assistance from her partner, which is where we stepped in.

The Husband initially commenced proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia seeking property settlement orders. In response, our client applied for interim orders seeking the payment of maintenance on the basis her reasonable living expenses exceeded her income as well as her earning capacity.

As the matter progressed, the Husband changed tune arguing all of a sudden, the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter on the basis that, apparently, the parties were not in a de facto relationship. That flew in the face of the initiating application brought by him only months earlier.

Further, the Husband filed a Financial Statement with the court upon which he sought to rely in establishing he was not able to “reasonably” maintain our client, that is, he argued he did not have sufficient income, after his own reasonable living expenses, to pay maintenance to our client.  

We assisted our client in compiling evidence to present to the court to raise serious concerns with respect to the Husband’s case. Such evidence included screenshots from social media where he bragged about owning expensive vehicles and personal items that were not disclosed in his Financial Statement as required. He also travelled overseas on a regular basis to assist in running his otherwise self-sufficient business, without clarifying how those trips were funded.

It was pleasing to our client and she felt vindicated when the court accepted the case we put before it on her behalf that it, firstly, had jurisdiction to determine the matter and, secondly, relied upon our submissions regarding the Husband’s lifestyle in reaching the conclusion that the Husband could reasonably maintain our client.  

The court ordered the Husband pay our client the sum of $1,000 per week, as sought by her, pending final resolution of the matter.

Should you or someone you know require assistance similar to our client, do not delay. Call us on 1800 600 664 to see if we can help.

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