Deen & Deen [2023] FedCFamC2F 1106

Deen & Deen [2023] FedCFamC2F 1106

Relationship Details

• Type: Marriage, preceded by a de facto relationship
• Court: Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2), Judge Carty, 25 August 2023
• Duration: Approximately 9 years and 9 months of cohabitation. The court found the de facto relationship began in 2008 (the wife said 2004). Married in 2011, separated on 16 February 2018.
• Ages at Hearing: Husband 70, Wife 61

Children

• No children from the marriage.
• The wife has one adult daughter from a previous relationship.

Initial Financial Positions

• Husband:

  • Several unencumbered real properties, savings, superannuation, a car and furniture, including the Suburb C property where the parties later lived.
  • In 2003 he inherited approximately $530,000 from his mother and realised about $280,000 from a sale of shares, which he used to buy further property.

• Wife:

  • One unencumbered property, Suburb E, transferred to her by her father in 2004, plus some savings, a car and furniture.
  • In 2004 she transferred $20,000 of savings into a joint account, followed by $60,000 her parents had given her and other savings and windfalls. The husband made no deposits to that account.

Contributions During the Relationship

• Financial Contributions:

  • The husband's pre-relationship wealth and inheritance made up most of the property.
  • The husband built the home on the Suburb C property; the wife said she paid for some goods and services, which he denied.
  • The joint account was funded by the wife; it was closed in 2008 and its funds moved into an account in the husband's sole name.

• Non-financial Contributions:

  • The wife acted as homemaker and said she was involved in property maintenance and building work with members of her family.

Post-Separation Contributions and Actions

• Financial Contributions:

  • In early 2018 the husband bought a home at Town N for about $425,000, using $200,100 of the wife's savings that had been held in a term deposit. The wife contributed 47% of its price.

• Non-financial Contributions:

  • The wife continued to live in the Suburb C property with her mother after separation. The husband paid its council and water rates until 2020, and the wife has paid the outgoings since.

Current Financial Position & Property Pool

• Property Pool:

  • Total net asset pool: $5,542,438, assessed in two pools.
  • Pool A ($1,799,049): the Suburb C property, the Town N property and the wife's superannuation.
  • Pool B ($3,743,389): all other assets, including the husband's other real properties and the wife's Suburb E property.

• Wife:

  • Superannuation: $79,049.
  • Suburb E property: $870,000.

• Husband:

  • Substantial savings and accounts, shares and several real properties, including Suburb C ($1,150,000), Suburb J ($650,000) and Suburb G ($600,000).

Assessment of Contributions and Future Needs

• Contribution Assessment:

  • Pool A (matrimonial property): Husband 70%, Wife 30%.
  • Pool B (other assets): Husband 71%, Wife 29%.

• Future Needs Adjustments:

  • Neither party sought an adjustment under s 75(2), and none was made.

• Final Division:

  • Overall, 69.5% to the husband and 30.5% to the wife.
  • Husband to receive assets worth approx. $3,917,140.49, including the Suburb C property.
  • Wife to receive assets worth $1,625,297.51, including a cash payment from the husband of $631,700.51 within 28 days. The wife was to vacate the Suburb C property.

Unique Aspects

• Significant focus on determining the commencement date of the de facto relationship.
• Large portion of the asset pool derived from the husband's pre-relationship wealth and inheritance.
• The court used a two-pool approach, separating the property most connected to the relationship from the assets each party brought into it.
• There was minimal intermingling of finances, with parties maintaining separate property ownership throughout most of the relationship.

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.