Burrowes & Waldrup [2023] FedCFamC2F 397

Burrowes & Waldrup [2023] FedCFamC2F 397 (6 April 2023)

Relationship Details

• Type: Marriage (a marriage-like relationship at first, then marriage)
• Court: Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2), Judge Taglieri, 6 April 2023
• Duration: About 5 years. The court found the parties were living together by about mid-2014, and they separated in July 2019.
• Ages at Judgment: Husband 68, Wife 59.

Children

• Children from Relationship: None.
• Children from Previous Relationships: None mentioned.

Initial Financial Positions

• Wife:

  • Owned the Town M property, subject to a mortgage, and other property: initial contributions of $110,000 in non-superannuation assets.
  • Superannuation of $158,438.

• Husband:

  • Owned the Town E property and other assets, probably close to $300,000 in total.

• Although both parties said their initial contributions were equal, the court found they were closer to 70/30 in favour of the Husband.

Contributions During the Relationship

• Financial Contributions:

  • The Wife inherited about $1,800,000 from her mother's estate in 2016.
  • From the inheritance she contributed about $600,000 to improvements to the Town E property, $600,000 to the equity in the Town C property, $204,000 to vehicles and equipment, $287,000 to living expenses and $100,000 to her superannuation.
  • The Husband had no paid work during the relationship. A retirement income stream set up in his name from the inheritance replaced his Disability Support Pension from 2016.

• Non-financial Contributions:

  • The Husband made most of the domestic and household contributions.
  • Both parties worked on the Town E property and cared for the animals. The Wife did more in organising improvements, and by the end of the relationship her contributions around the property and to the animals were somewhat greater.

Post-Separation Contributions and Actions

• No significant evidence of financial or non-financial contributions post-separation was noted.

Current Financial Position & Property Pool

• Husband:

  • Has not worked since the relationship and receives the Age Pension.
  • Held net assets of about $714,280, mainly the Town E property ($650,000) and vehicles.

• Wife:

  • Works as a health care worker earning $77,000 a year.
  • Held net assets of about $667,980, mainly the Town C property ($775,000, subject to a mortgage of $178,082).

• Property Pool:

  • The net non-superannuation asset pool was valued at approximately $1,382,260.

Assessment of Contributions and Future Needs

• Contributions:

  • Contributions assessed at 79/21 in favour of the Wife, because her inheritance contributions massively overtook the Husband's larger initial contribution.

• Future Needs Adjustments:

  • An adjustment of 7% in favour of the Husband: 5% for the disparity in income, property and capacity for work (s 75(2)(b)), and 2% for a reasonable standard of living (s 75(2)(g)). The final decision was a division of the net non-superannuation assets at 72% to the Wife and 28% to the Husband.

• Final Division: The Wife received approximately $995,270, and the Husband received approximately $387,032.

Unique Aspects

• Significant financial input by the Wife from an inheritance received during the marriage.
• The Husband argued that the money spent on the Town E property was unnecessary or unwanted. The court rejected this: he had been content for the work to be done and, as sole owner, could have stopped it.
• The court rejected the Husband's claim that the Wife took assets worth $369,000 at separation, finding the items taken were worth about $13,095.

Final Orders

• The Town E property must be sold to achieve the distribution, with the Husband receiving a cash payment of about $346,792 and the Wife about $313,208 from the sale.
• Each party retains the vehicles, equipment and chattels allocated to them, and pays the debts in their own name.
• The Wife retains her superannuation; there is no superannuation split.

The law since this decision

This case was decided before 10 June 2025. From that date the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) sets out the steps for a property settlement in s 79(3) to (5), and the court must consider the effect of family violence on each party's contributions (s 79(4)(ca)) and on their current and future circumstances (s 79(5)(a)), and any material wastage of property (s 79(5)(d)). In Western Australia, a property case between married couples is decided under that Act in the Family Court of Western Australia. A case between de facto partners in Western Australia is decided under the Family Court Act 1997 (WA), which has not adopted those 2025 changes.