As mentioned in last week’s post, a family law case from earlier this year involving a family trust has received an amount of attention given the decision seems somewhat at odds with the High Court’s decision in Spry.
The more recent case (named Keach & Keach and Ors [2011] FamCA 192 – (if you would like a copy of the case please email me) focused on a family trust that the father of the divorcing husband had established.
The father admitted that among other things, one reason for setting up the trust was to keep the assets as far away from the reach of the family court as possible.
The divorcing wife argued that the assets of the trust should be available to her on a property settlement as her former husband effectively treated them as his own.
The court held that the assets should be ignored on the property settlement. Essentially, it was held the only time that the legal documents and arrangements could be ignored was where they were a sham or a 'mere puppet'. In all other instances, the family court cannot ignore the interests of third parties in the property, nor the existence of conditions or covenants that limit the rights of the party who owns it.
Until next week.
