HARRY and Wendy have been married for 20 years.

When their relationship breaks-down, a dispute arises in relation to the division of their assets. The asset pool is assessed at $2 million.

Harry seeks an overall division of their assets of 70/30 in his favour, stating that he made more significant contributions and that he has greater future needs.

Wendy seeks a division of 55/45 in her favour, stating that during the course of their lengthy marriage, contributions should be assessed as equal and that she is entitled to a further adjustment in her favour due to her future needs.

The Court states that it is required to holistically assess the nature and the quality of the totality of the parties’ contributions throughout the entirety of their relationship.

The Court specifically considers an inheritance received by Harry early in the relationship and the fact that Wendy’s child to a previous relationship lived with them for many years.

The Court rules that both parties worked hard throughout the relationship and supported their children and despite Wendy’s claim that Harry did not work for periods for “no good reason”, assesses the parties’ contributions as a whole as being 50/50.

In terms of future needs, the Court accepts that Harry has long term health issues and notes that Wendy has a lower income earning capacity.

Harry claims that Wendy will receive an estimated inheritance of $500,000 when her elderly mother passes-away and that this should be taken into consideration.

However, the Court states that in the absence of evidence regarding the likely value of the inheritance and the lack of evidence regarding the mother’s prognosis in terms of length of life, only “limited weight” can be given to the prospect that Wendy will receive some form of inheritance in the future and rules an ultimate division of the total existing asset pool of 51/49 in Harry’s favour.

Email Manny Wood, Principal Solicitor and Accredited Specialist in Wills and Estates at TB Law at manny@tblaw.net.au or call him on (02) 66 487 487.

This fictional column is only accurate at today’s date and is not legal advice.

By Manny WOOD, Solicitor