Apostolova & Nuallain (No 3) [2026] FedCFamC1F 155 (10 March 2026)

(a) Selecting and appointing a real estate agent to market and sell the property;

(b) Engaging a solicitor/conveyancer to act on the sale of the property;

(c) Approving advertising material and marketing campaign in relation to the sale of the property;

(d) Nominating, in consultation with the agent, an appropriate method of sale, either by way of private treaty or auction;

(e) Executing any document or instrument as may be necessary to facilitate the sale of the property; and

(f) Take any other reasonable step required to prepare, list, market and sell the property.

1. The husband shall ensure that the Suburb AA property is at all times in a clean and tidy condition and do all things to cause the Suburb AA property to be vacated four hours prior to any inspection time or open house. For this purpose, the husband shall be given 24 hours' notice of any inspection or open house.
2. On or before completion of the sale of the Suburb AA property, the husband shall provide vacant possession, remove all items not included in the sale and ensure the Suburb AA property is left in a clean and tidy condition.
3. The list or reserve price shall be as determined by the trustee in consultation with the real estate agent.
4. The proceeds of sale of the Suburb AA property be distributed in the following manner and priority:

(a) In payment of the agent's commission and advertising expenses;

(b) In payment of the trustee's remuneration and expenses incurred directly in connection with exercising his power of sale;

(c) In payment of the fees incurred by Ms V in her prior role as trustee for sale of the Suburb AA property and the Suburb P property pursuant to Order 2 made on 19 March 2025;

(d) In discharge of the mortgage over the Suburb AA property, and if collaterally secured, the mortgages over the Suburb P property;

(e) In payment of 50 per cent of the balance of proceeds of sale then remaining into a controlled monies account in the name of the husband to be operated by his solicitors subject to any agreement in writing between the parties or the implementation of Order 13 hereof or further order of the Court; and

(f) In payment of:

(i) the creditors in the bankruptcy of the wife subject to Order 12 hereof;

(ii) the fees and disbursements of the second respondent in relation to the conduct of the bankruptcy; and

(iii) Any surplus then remaining, in the event the wife's bankruptcy has not been annulled, be paid into a controlled monies account in the name of the wife's trustee in bankruptcy subject to any agreement in writing between the parties or further order of the Court. In the event the wife's bankruptcy has been annulled, any surplus be paid into a controlled monies account in the name of the wife to be operated by her solicitors subject to any agreement in writing between the parties or further order of the Court.

1. In the event the sale of the Suburb AA property does not realise sufficient proceeds to pay all the creditors of the wife proved in the bankruptcy and payment of the fees and disbursements of the second respondent in relation to the conduct of the bankruptcy, the second respondent is authorised, insofar as such authorisation by order is necessary, to do all things necessary to list the Suburb P property for sale. The second respondent trustee is authorised to take any reasonable steps as they consider appropriate or necessary to prepare, list, market and sell the Suburb P property, including but not limited to:

(a) Selecting and appointing a real estate agent to market and sell the property;

(b) Engaging a solicitor/conveyancer to act on the sale of the property;

(c) Approving advertising material and marketing campaign in relation to the sale of the property;

(d) Nominating, in consultation with the agent, an appropriate method of sale, either by way of private treaty or auction;

(e) Executing any document or instrument as may be necessary to facilitate the sale of the property; and

(f) Take any other reasonable step required to prepare, list, market and sell the property.

1. The wife shall ensure that the Suburb P property is at all times in a clean and tidy condition and do all things to cause the Suburb P property to be vacated by four hours prior to any inspection time or open house. For this purpose, the wife shall be given 24 hours' notice of any inspection or open house.
2. On or before completion of the sale of the Suburb P property, the wife shall provide vacant possession, remove all items not included in the sale and ensure the Suburb P property is left in a clean and tidy condition.
3. The proceeds of sale of the Suburb P property be distributed in the following manner and priority:

(a) In payment of the agent's commission and advertising expenses;

(b) In payment of the trustee's remuneration and expenses incurred selling the property;

(c) In payment of the legal expenses of the sale;

(d) In discharge of the mortgages (if any) over the Suburb P property;

(e) Subject to Order 12 hereof, in payment of the creditors of the bankrupt estate of the wife and in payment of the fees and disbursements of the second respondent in relation to the conduct of the bankruptcy; and

(f) Any surplus be paid into a controlled monies account in the name of the wife to be operated by her solicitors subject to any agreement in writing between the parties or further order of the Court.

1. Pending further order, pursuant to s 114(4) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), the wife's trustee in bankruptcy is restrained until 90 days after settlement of the sale of the Suburb AA property or the Suburb P property (whichever sells first in time) from declaring and distributing dividends among those of the wife's creditors, other than those the trustee adjudicates to be secured creditors, statutory liabilities or other outgoings (council rates, land tax, water rates and/or strata levies) associated with the sale.
2. In the event that the CC Company debt claimed in the wife's bankruptcy is paid by the trustee from the proceeds of sale of real property, forthwith upon such payment, the parties shall do all things to pay $270,000 from the husband's share of the proceeds of sale of the Suburb AA property held in a controlled monies account pursuant to these orders to the husband's solicitors to be applied in the payment of the husband's legal fees in respect of these proceedings.
3. Pending further order, the wife is restrained from doing any act or thing to mortgage or encumber, further mortgage or encumber, sell, transfer, assign, deal with or adversely affect her interest in the Suburb P property. This order shall operate during the wife's bankruptcy and shall continue after the annulment of the wife's bankruptcy.
4. Pending further order, the wife shall pay, as and when they fall due, all instalments in respect of any mortgage secured over the Suburb P property, and in the event the mortgage payments are in arrears for a period of greater than two months, then should the property remain vested in the wife's trustee in bankruptcy, the trustee shall sell, or in the event the bankruptcy has annulled, the trustee shall be appointed trustee for the wife to sell, the Suburb P property on the terms identified in Orders 8 to 10 hereof, and the balance of proceeds of such sale shall be applied in the priority identified in Order 11 hereof.
5. On or before 7 April 2026, the husband shall do all things to cause the financial statements for DD Trust and DD Pty Ltd, and the draft tax returns for each, for the year ending 30 June 2025, to be completed and disclosed.
6. The proceedings be listed for a case management hearing before me in person at 10.00 am on 1 June 2026.
7. The legal representatives for the husband and the wife are directed to confer prior to 21 April 2026 to produce an updated joint letter of instruction to the ch 7 single forensic accounting expert, Mr Nick Gaudion, as to the valuation of the trusts and corporate interests of the parties, such letter to confirm the proposal for securing the payment of Mr Gaudion's costs and future fees.
8. The solicitors for the husband shall serve a copy of these orders on Mr Nick Gaudion and Ms V.
9. Each party's costs of and incidental to the applications and responses determined by way of these orders be reserved.
10. Save and except as provided for by these orders, the relief sought by the trustee in his Response to an Initiating Application filed on 19 December 2025 as amended on 5 March 2026 and as further amended in terms of Exhibit 1, the Response to an Application in a Proceeding of the husband filed on 4 March 2026 as amended in his Case Outline filed on 5 March 2026, and the relief sought by the wife in her Further Amended Response to Initiating Application filed on 5 March 2026, are dismissed.

Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry in the Court's records.

Note: This copy of the Court's Reasons for judgment may be subject to review to remedy minor typographical or grammatical errors (r 10.14(b) Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth)), or to record a variation to the order pursuant to r 10.13 Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth).

Part XIVB of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) makes it an offence, except in very limited circumstances, to publish an account of proceedings that identify persons, associated persons, or witnesses involved in family law proceedings.

IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment by this Court under the pseudonym Apostolova & Nuallain has been approved pursuant to subsection 114Q(2) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

1. These reasons determine the interlocutory relief of:

(a) Mr Ryland as Trustee in Bankruptcy ("the trustee") sought in the Response to an Initiating Application filed on 19 December 2025 as amended on 5 March 2026 and as further amended in terms of Exhibit 1;

(b) Mr Apostolova ("the husband") sought in the Response to an Application in a Proceeding filed on 4 March 2026, as amended in his Case Outline document filed on 5 March 2026 (Exhibit 3); and

(c) Ms Nuallain ("the wife") sought in her Further Amended Response to Initiating Application filed on 5 March 2026.

1. The husband and the wife are engaged in proceedings as to the parenting of their children and property settlement pursuant to Pt VII and Pt VIII of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) ("the Act").
2. To give context to the competing interlocutory relief determined by way of these reasons, orders were made on 5 June 2024, as amended on 1 July 2024, for the sequential sale of a real property owned by the wife at BB Street, Suburb P ("the [Suburb P] property") and a jointly held real property owned by the husband and the wife at Z Street, Suburb AA ("the [Suburb AA] property") and as to the application of the proceeds of those disposals.
3. The sale of each property did not progress. On 19 March 2025, an order was made appointing Ms V, solicitor, as trustee for each of the husband and the wife to facilitate the sale of each of the Suburb AA and the Suburb P properties.
4. The wife was made bankrupt on her own petition on 9 September 2025. The trustee of the wife's bankrupt estate was appointed on that day. The trustee was joined to the proceedings on 20 October 2025.
5. The parenting matter was bifurcated from the financial matter. The parenting trial was conducted from 10 November 2025 to 12 November 2025. Judgment is reserved.
6. As at 6 March 2026, neither the Suburb AA property nor the Suburb P property have been sold.

1. The trustee sought orders to vary the orders for the disposal of the real properties, such that the Suburb AA property be sold first in time, followed by the sale of the Suburb P property. In the first instance, the trustee sought to have the sole conduct of the sale of the Suburb AA property on behalf of the bankrupt estate and the husband, or in the alternative that Ms V retain her appointment as trustee for sale. The trustee sought that 50 per cent of the proceeds of sale, after discharge of the mortgage and removal of caveats on the title of the property (being the wife's legal interest in the property vested by the bankruptcy), be applied to the creditors of the bankrupt estate, in payment of the trustee's fees, and thereafter paid to the wife subject to any further order of the Court. The trustee sought for the remaining 50 per cent of the proceeds of sale, after payment of the mortgage and selling expenses, to be paid to the husband or otherwise paid as ordered by the Court.
2. The trustee further sought orders that in the event the wife's 50 per cent share of the Suburb AA property does not realise sufficient funds to meet the debts of the bankrupt estate, the Suburb P property (currently vested in the trustee) would be sold by the trustee and the proceeds of sale be applied to discharge the mortgages and caveats secured on it, as well as payment of selling expenses, the balance then being applied to the bankruptcy and then the surplus paid to the wife or otherwise paid as ordered by the Court.

1. The husband sought that the interlocutory relief of the trustee be refused and dismissed. In the alternative, he sought to discharge the order appointing Ms V as the trustee for sale of the Suburb AA property and the Suburb P property, to appoint Mr EE, solicitor, as trustee for the sale of the Suburb P property, and he as the sole trustee for the sale of the Suburb AA property. He sought for the Suburb P property to be sold prior to the Suburb AA property, and after payment to discharge the mortgage and selling costs, for the balance of proceeds of sale to be put into a solicitor's trust account. Thereafter, he sought for the Suburb AA property to be sold with the proceeds applied in a similar manner. His relief made no provision for the distribution of any proceeds of sale to be applied to satisfy the bankrupt estate of the wife, or to be paid to himself.
2. To give some context to the husband's relief opposing the distribution of the sale of any property to be applied to satisfy the bankrupt estate of the wife, he contends that the wife's debtor's petition grounding her bankruptcy was "a deliberate strategy used by [the wife] to achieve an end where she retains the [Suburb P] property". He further asserted that the wife by way of the bankruptcy sought to obtain a forensic advantage through the bankruptcy to achieve a summary payment of:

(a) A contended loan advance from her father of $130,000 made in 2006; and

(b) Payment of her accrued legal fees in the proceedings to date to CC Company, FF Lawyers, and GG Lawyers in the combined amount of $464,926.79.

1. The CC Company debt is secured by way of a caveat over the wife's interest in both the Suburb P property and the Suburb AA property.
2. On 5 December 2024, her father caused a caveat to be lodged on the title of the Suburb P property.

1. The wife in her Further Amended Response to an Initiating Application filed on 5 March 2026 sought orders that in large reflected the relief sought by her trustee in bankruptcy, save that she opposed the husband receiving any of the 50 per cent legal interest he has in the proceeds of sale of the Suburb AA property, and that those monies be held in a controlled monies account pending further order for the s 79 determination. She opposed any orders for the sale of the Suburb P property.

1. Ms V, the trustee for the husband and the wife appointed for the sale of the Suburb P property and the Suburb AA property pursuant to the orders made on 19 March 2025, appeared at the hearing. She identified she had outstanding fees in the range of $1,700. The parties and Ms V agreed that her appointment as trustee for the sale of each of the Suburb AA property and the Suburb P property had been subsumed by subsequent events and that the orders appointing her as trustee would be discharged. The parties agreed that her fees would be met from their entitlements on completion of the real property sales. Such orders will be made.
2. Mr Nick Gaudion, the ch 7 single forensic accounting expert appointed pursuant to the orders made on 30 October 2023, appeared at the hearing. The husband has paid 50 per cent of his fees to date. The remaining 50 per cent of his outstanding professional fees in the amount of $6,168.60 is accepted to be a proved debt in the bankruptcy and will be, as uncontroversially acknowledged by the husband, paid from the proceeds of sale of the real properties currently vested in the trustee. Orders will be made to direct facilitation of the refinement of updated instructions to Mr Gaudion, to progress the discharge of his function, and secure payment of his future fees. This includes requiring the husband to complete the 2025 financial statements and revenue returns for DD Trust and DD Pty Ltd within one month.

1. The husband changed his position during the hearing to seek that the Suburb AA property and the Suburb P property be forthwith simultaneously sold.
2. The wife and the trustee sought that the Suburb AA property be sold first in time and, if necessary, dependent on the equity achieved on the sale of the Suburb AA property, the trustee be at liberty to sell the Suburb P property with the objective to produce sufficient additional funds to annul the wife's bankruptcy.

(a) The orders made on 5 June 2024 as varied on 1 July 2024 providing for the sequential sale of the Suburb P property and then the Suburb AA property and as to the priority of the application of those proceeds of sale, would be discharged;

(b) The trustee would be appointed the husband's trustee for the purposes of the sale of the Suburb AA property;

(c) The husband's half legal share of the net proceeds of sale of the Suburb AA property would be held in a controlled monies account. It was noted that he may seek the trustee's and the wife's consent to apply those funds to meet any of his taxation liabilities as they crystalise on assessment, and if agreement cannot be achieved, he may file such application as he is advised;

(d) If any of the net sale proceeds of the Suburb AA property became due to the wife upon her bankruptcy being annulled, they too would be held in a controlled monies account; and

(e) While no order was required as a matter of law for the trustee to sell the Suburb P property during the currency of the bankruptcy (the wife's interests in the property vesting in the trustee), orders would be made regulating the terms of that sale if it was to occur during the currency of the wife's bankruptcy.

(f) In any event:

(i) An order be made that the wife be restrained from selling, transferring, further encumbering, dealing with, or adversely affecting her interests in the Suburb P property, it being accepted that the wife currently cannot deal with the property as its vests in the trustee; and

(ii) An order be made that in the event the mortgage secured upon the Suburb P property fell into arrears for a period of greater than two months, irrespective of whether the arrears accumulate during the period up to the annulment of the wife's bankruptcy or after the annulment of the wife's bankruptcy, the trustee would sell that property either in his capacity as the wife's trustee in bankruptcy, or as her trustee for sale, and the net proceeds be paid into a controlled monies account.

1. The husband and the trustee also agreed to an order in the following terms (Exhibit 12):
   1. Order pursuant to Section 114(4) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), restraining the Second Respondent (Bankruptcy Trustee) until 90 days from settlement of the sale of the [Suburb AA] property or [Suburb P] property (whichever sells first in time) from declaring and distributing dividends among those of the First Respondent's creditors, other than those he adjudicates to be secured creditors, statutory liabilities or other outgoings (council rates, land tax, water rates, strata levies) associated with the sale.

1. The wife did not oppose, in principle, the making of such order, but said that the trigger period for the order to operate ought to have an expiry of 60 days after the date of exchange of contracts for either the Suburb AA property or the Suburb P property, rather than 90 days from the date of any settlement of the first property. The wife did not make any probative submission to vary the agreed constrained discharge of the trustee's statutory functions in support of her amendment to the proposed order. The trustee ought to discharge his function in a timeframe as he considers reasonable and proper. For these reasons, and those that follow as to matters relevant to some of the debts claimed in the bankruptcy, an order will be made broadly in terms of Exhibit 12.

1. The husband was born in 1980. He is currently 45 years old.
2. The wife was born in 1979. She is currently 46 years old.
3. The husband and the wife married in 2012 and separated in October 2022. There are two children of the marriage, X born in 2014, currently aged 12 years, and Y born in 2017, currently aged eight years.
4. The wife purchased the Suburb P property in her sole name in 2006 for $495,000. On 15 October 2024, the wife refinanced her loan with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for the Suburb P property to Westpac Banking Corporation ("Westpac").
5. On 17 October 2014, the parties jointly purchased the Suburb AA property for $1,900,000 funded by way of a deposit from the parties of $190,000 and a mortgage of approximately $1,710,000 from Westpac.
6. At the time of the marriage the husband operated a trading recruitment consultancy agency enterprise of by way of DD Trust. The corporate trustee is DD Pty Ltd. The husband continues to operate this entity. The last financial statements prepared by the entity are as at 30 June 2024 (Exhibit 11). The husband contends that the business operated by DD Trust is trading at a loss of $106,498 as at the year ending 30 June 2024. The general import of his evidence is that the trading performance has not improved. The husband says he has changed accountants. The 2025 financial statements for DD Trust have not been prepared. The husband says that the trading entity currently employs him and one other person. The husband was indebted to DD Trust by way of debit loan of more than $1,000,000 as at 30 June 2024, and DD Trust recorded a liability to the Australian Taxation Office ("the ATO") of close to $1,000,000 at that date. The ch 7 expert opinion as to the current value of this property item is required for the final hearing.
7. During the marriage, the wife operated a trading enterprise by way of HH Trust. The corporate trustee is HH Pty Ltd. The last financial statements prepared by the entity are as at 30 June 2024 (Exhibit 8). The enterprise no longer trades. A liquidator was appointed to the trustee on 4 February 2026. The parties can determine whether a ch 7 expert opinion as to the current value of this property item is required for the final hearing.
8. The husband commenced proceedings by filing an Initiating Application in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) on 22 October 2023, seeking final parenting orders for the children. On 7 November 2023, the husband filed an Amended Initiating Application seeking orders adjusting the property between he and the wife pursuant to s 79 of the Act. The wife filed a Response to an Initiating Application on 18 March 2024 seeking different orders adjusting the property of the parties.
9. Orders made by a senior judicial registrar on 5 June 2024, as amended on 1 July 2024, provide:

IT IS ORDERED PENDING FURTHER ORDER THAT:

1. The husband is at liberty to sell or otherwise deal with the property located at and known as [JJ Street], [Suburb KK] NSW [...] ("the [Suburb KK] property").
2. Within 7 days the husband and wife shall do all acts and things and sign any document required to cause the bank to release the collateral security for the [Suburb KK] property secured over the properties known as [Z Street], [Suburb AA] [...] (the [Suburb AA] property) and [BB Street], [Suburb P] [...] (the [Suburb P] property).
3. Within 28 days of the parties' compliance with Order 2, the husband shall do all acts and things and sign all necessary documents to list the [Suburb KK] property for sale by public auction and for that purpose the husband shall:
   1. Engage [LL Company] [Suburb KK] to conduct the sale; and
   2. Appoint [Ms MM] Solicitor to act on the sale of the [Suburb KK] property.
4. For the purposes of Order 3, the reserve price shall be as agreed between the parties and failing agreement as nominated by the president of the NSW Real Estate Institute or his or her nominee.
5. The proceeds of the sale of the [Suburb KK] property shall be distributed in the following manner and priority:
   1. In payment of the agent's commission and advertising expenses
   2. In payment of the legal expenses of the sale
   3. In discharge of the mortgage over the [Suburb KK] property
   4. In payment to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on account of the taxation liabilities in the name of [DD Trust] as at 23 May 2024;
   5. In payment to the ATO on account of the taxation liabilities in the name of [HH Trust] as at 23 May 2024;
   6. In payment to the ATO on account of the taxation liabilities in the name of [Mr Apostolova] as at 23 May 2024;
   7. In payment to the ATO on account of the taxation liabilities in the name of [Ms Nuallain] as at 23 May 2024; and
   8. Any remainder to be paid against the mortgage to Westpac bank secured over the [Suburb AA] property.
6. Within 14 days of the completion of the distribution of the proceeds of the sale of the [Suburb KK] property, should there remain any outstanding debt to the ATO on account of the taxation liabilities in the name of [DD Trust] and/or [HH Trust] and/or [Mr Apostolova] and/or [Ms Nuallain], the husband and wife shall do all acts and things and sign any document required to cause the bank to release the collateral security for the [Suburb P] property secured over the property known as [Z Street], [Suburb AA] [...] (the [Suburb AA] property).
7. Within 28 days of parties' compliance with Order 6, each party shall do all acts and things and sign all necessary documents to list the [Suburb P] property for sale and for that purpose,
   1. The wife shall nominate three real estate agents to act on the sale and the husband shall select one,
   2. The husband shall nominate three solicitor/conveyancers to act on the sale and the wife shall select one.
8. For the purposes of Order 7, the reserve price shall be as agreed between the parties and failing agreement as nominated by the president of the NSW Real Estate Institute or his or her nominee.
9. The proceeds of the sale of the [Suburb P] property shall be distributed in the following manner and priority,
   1. In payment of the agent's commission and advertising expenses
   2. In payment of the legal expenses of the sale
   3. In discharge of the mortgage over the [Suburb P] property
   4. In payment to the ATO on account of the taxation liabilities in the name of [DD Trust] as at 23 May 2024;
   5. In payment to the ATO on account of the taxation liabilities in the name of [HH Trust] as at 23 May 2024;
   6. In payment to the ATO on account of the taxation liabilities in the name of [Mr Apostolova] as at 23 May 2024;
   7. In payment to the ATO on account of the taxation liabilities in the name of [Mr Apostolova] [Ms Nuallain] as at 23 May 2024; and
   8. Any remainder shall be paid into a controlled monies account in the parties' joint names with [FF Lawyers].
10. Within 14 days of the completion of the distribution of the proceeds of the sale of the [Suburb P] property, should there remain any outstanding debt to the ATO on account of the taxation liabilities in the name of [DD Trust] and/or [HH Trust] and/or [Mr Apostolova] and/or [Ms Nuallain], the husband and wife shall do all acts and things and sign any document required to list the [Suburb AA] property for sale and for that purpose:
    1. the wife shall nominate three real estate agents to act on the sale and the husband shall select one; and
    2. the husband shall nominate three solicitor/conveyancers to act on the sale and the wife shall select one.
11. The proceeds of the sale of the [Suburb AA] property are to be distributed in the following manner and priority,

    1. In payment of the agent's commission and advertising expenses

    2. In payment of the legal expenses of the sale

    3. In discharge of the mortgage over the [Suburb AA] property

    4. In payment to the ATO on account of the taxation liabilities in the name of [DD Trust] as at 23 May 2024;

    5. In payment to the ATO on account of the taxation liabilities in the name of [HH Trust] as at 23 May 2024;

    6. In payment to the ATO on account of the taxation liabilities in the name of [Mr Apostolova] as at 23 May 2024;

    7. In payment to the ATO on account of the taxation liabilities in the name of [Ms Nuallain] as at 23 May 2024;

    8. In payment of $150,000 to the wife by way of partial property settlement;

    9. In payment of $150,000 to the husband by way of partial property settlement; and

    10. Any remainder shall be paid into a controlled monies account in the parties' joint names with [FF Lawyers].

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT:

1. Leave is granted to the husband to provide a sealed copy of these orders to his taxation lawyers, the ATO and their legal representatives.
2. Within 7 days of the date of these Orders, the wife shall provide to the husband a copy of the Contract for Sale for [NN Street], [Suburb OO] NSW (the [Suburb OO] property) [...] and any relevant document and particulars related to the distribution of the proceeds of sale of the [Suburb OO] property.
3. Within 28 days from the date of these Orders, the husband provide full and frank financial disclosure in accordance with Part 6 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 and for this purpose the husband shall provide the following documents to the wife (unless already provided):

14.1.1 All loan applications, contracts, applications for refinance and supporting documents pertaining to the Westpac Home Loan [#89];

14.1.2 All loan applications, contracts, applications for refinance and supporting documents pertaining to the Westpac Home Loan [#82];

14.2.1 BAS Statements for [DD Pty Ltd] for the financial years ending in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022;

14.2.2 Financial Reports for [DD Trust] for the financial years ending 2017, 2018 and 2019;

14.2.3 Notice of Assessment for the Applicant Husband for the Financial Year ending 2023;

14.2.4 All correspondence, documents and statements provided to the ATO with respect to the Applicant Husband's taxation debts, personally or owed by [DD Pty Ltd] or [HH Pty Ltd],

14.2.5 The Statement of the Applicant Husband sent to the ATO, through his solicitors, on 27 November 2023.

14.3.1 All documents, statements, receipts and correspondence pertaining to the disposal of the Applicant Husband's [PP Company] Shares;

14.3.2 All invoices and receipts of purchase, including particulars as to the source of funds for purchase and valuation for the Husband's [luxury watch], and all other luxury watches or jewellery owned by the Husband or disposed of by the Husband during the relationship and at separation.

1. The husband's costs of the Further Amended Application in a Proceeding filed on 18 April 2024 are reserved.
2. All outstanding interim applications are marked as finalised.
3. All extant applications are continuing to the Mention listed before Judicial Registrar Turner at 4:00pm on 12 August 2024 (by Microsoft Teams) in the Sydney Registry.

IT IS NOTED THAT:

1. These orders do not make any provision for payment of any Capital Gains Tax liability payable by either party upon the sale of the [Suburb KK] property and/or the [Suburb P] property.

2. These Orders have been amended pursuant to rule 10.13 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth).

(As per the original)

1. On 4 October 2024, the husband's investment property at JJ Street, Suburb KK ("the [Suburb KK] property") sold for $1,500,000. The sale proceeds were invested and distributed in compliance with the orders made on 5 June 2024. The husband contends a Capital Gains Tax ("CGT") liability of $237,282 remains payable upon its disposal.
2. At the date of the orders for the sale of the real properties, the husband was in occupation of the Suburb AA property, and the wife was residing with her parents. The Suburb P property was subject to a tenancy.
3. Orders were made on 6 February 2025 for the children to live with the wife.
4. In March 2025, the wife commenced to terminate the tenancy of the Suburb P property in the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal. She and the children commenced to occupy that property in or around April 2025. On 30 July 2025, the wife filed an Application in a Proceeding for the sale of the Suburb AA property, implicitly seeking to discharge the order for the sale of the Suburb P property. For reasons that are unclear, that Application in a Proceeding had not yet been determined.
5. The husband and the wife are in dispute as to the reasons why the sale of each of the Suburb AA property and the Suburb P property have not occurred or have been delayed for an extended period. The husband says that the wife has frustrated and/or failed to facilitate Ms V's role as trustee in disposing of the properties. Ms V did not make any application for any orders to facilitate the discharge of her function as trustee for the parties for the sale of the properties.
6. The mortgage secured upon the Suburb P property is currently not in arrears. It is prepaid until April 2026. The wife says that for the past three weeks she has started generating income of about $2,000 per week, and that this income is sufficient to meet the Suburb P property's mortgage payments of about $2,800 per month. She seeks to retain the Suburb P property in specie in the s 79 proceedings.
7. The husband has been in sole occupation of the Suburb AA property since 23 October 2023. The mortgage instalments due on that property are in the range of $11,000 per month annualised to more than $130,000 per annum. The husband has not paid any mortgage instalments in respect of the Suburb AA property since April 2025. The husband submitted a hardship application to Westpac. The mortgage is in arrears of not less than $110,000. Interest, penalties and costs are compounding, eroding that equity in the property. As at 3 March 2026, I find that the value of the mortgage liability is $2,143,859.
8. Exhibit 4 is a joint draft balance sheet filed on 26 February 2026. It records as follows:

Estimated Capital Gains Taxation Liability on sale of Suburb KK

1. The wife contends that it would be just and equitable for the property of the parties to be adjusted as to 70 per cent in her favour and 30 per cent to the husband. The husband contends it would be just and equitable for the property of the parties to be adjusted as to 60 per cent in his favour and 40 per cent to the wife.
2. Notwithstanding the orders made for the sale of the Suburb AA property and the Suburb P property almost two years ago and the orders made appointing trustees for sale, the husband asserted during the hearing that he believes the Suburb P mortgages are collaterally secured on the Suburb AA property and that the Suburb AA mortgage is collaterally secured on the Suburb P property. The possibility of such collateral security is foreshadowed in the orders made on 5 June 2024 as amended on 1 July 2024. It beggars belief that no party was in the position to confirm the accuracy of this assertion. This determination is therefore progressed doing the best I can on the available evidence, that being that the loans are not collaterally secured.
3. The husband additionally has substantial contended unsecured liabilities that he has no identified capacity to pay without liquidation of, and access to, his interest in the Suburb AA property. His liabilities in Exhibit 4 are in the range of $1,000,000. In the husband's affidavit filed on 5 March 2026 they are asserted as:

1. It appears that the identified tax debts are yet to crystalise by way of a Notice of Assessment. While the husband asserts that the net value of the property of the parties available for adjustment is in the range of $1,400,000 to $1,600,000 plus superannuation, he also owes $851,931 in legal fees for both the parenting and the property proceedings payable to his solicitors.

1. Section 114 of the Act provides that the Court may make such order or grant such injunction as it considers proper. The husband seeks a discretionary order by injunction for the preservation of property and to facilitate the discharge of the trustee's statutory and fiduciary functions to forthwith list the Suburb P property for sale. The basis on which such an order is made is well established. The husband as the applicant for the injunction must demonstrate that the balance of convenience favours making the order sought. As part of this, the husband as the applicant for the injunction must show that there is a "danger" or risk of dissipation of or dealings with assets which will frustrate any judgment in his favour. The question of prejudice to each other party needs to be considered. The order made should be no more than is necessary. The husband as the applicant for the injunction bears the onus of satisfying the Court that the circumstances justify the making of the order.

1. By operation of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth), all divisible assets of the wife vest in the trustee. The divisible assets of the wife largely consist of her interests with the husband in the Suburb AA property and her legal interest in the Suburb P property.
2. The trustee is obliged to manage the vested property in a manner that minimises the erosion of equity and the burden of costs in maintaining the property to maximise the return for both the creditors of the bankrupt estate and the parties to the s 79 proceeding.
3. The agreed position is that the immediate sale of the Suburb AA property is required to mitigate the compounding monthly mortgage penalties and interest.
4. No issue exists that the wife's trustee in bankruptcy has the capacity to dispose of the wife's vested interests in both the Suburb AA property and the Suburb P property in the discharge of his statutory obligations as and when he considers prudent. As will be explained, while the husband said that he did not propose to imperil the statutory and fiduciary functions of the trustee, the reality of the husband's amended relief seeks to constrain and direct the trustee's conduct in discharge of those obligations.
5. The statement of affairs completed by the wife on entering the bankruptcy identifies her creditors as follows:

Does not include the debt owed by HH Pty Ltd, being approximately $101,136.57

(Trustee's affidavit filed 19 December 2025, paragraph 7)

1. Each of these contended liabilities are provable debts in the bankruptcy. It is agreed that the current value of the debts in the bankruptcy at the date of the hearing is now in the range of $988,000.
2. The husband contends the wife has manufactured her debtors petition grounding her bankruptcy to manipulate retention of the Suburb P property. He puts into issue the wife's contention that the wife is living at the Suburb P property with the children and contends that the wife and the children are living at her parents' home. While I cannot make a finding as to whether the wife and child currently live in the property or not, the wife's evidence on this topic is not inherently unbelievable.
3. The husband submits that the balance of convenience falls in his favour to make the order for the simultaneous sale of the Suburb P property because there is a risk that the distribution of the wife's vested share of the proceeds of sale of the Suburb AA property in paying the debts to be proved in the bankruptcy will frustrate the judgment sought in his favour.
4. The husband asserts an absence of integrity to the wife's asserted loan obtained from her father of $130,000. He identifies that the wife advised as to the fact of a loan on 10 December 2024, after the orders were made for the sale of the Suburb P property. The caveat of the wife's father dated 5 December 2024 asserts an interest pursuant to a loan agreement made between he and the wife on 22 October 2006. The husband justifiably criticises the failure of the wife to disclose the loan agreement document. He says that the loan was not the subject of discussion during the marriage and that it was not disclosed in any applications for finance made during their relationship. The wife did not explain her failure to disclose the loan in her Financial Statement filed on 12 September 2025 (Exhibit 9).
5. The order made in terms of Exhibit 12 ensures a degree of protection to the husband as to any part of the vested proceeds of sale of the Suburb AA property being applied to pay this alleged debt without he having the opportunity to dispute it. The trustee will investigate the integrity of the alleged debt during the administration of the bankruptcy, including if it was made, as to its terms, and as to whether it is statute barred. The husband ought to receive the benefit of disclosure of these investigations and the trustee's determination and subject to same has the capacity to make such further application as he is advised to protect his interests
6. The caveat lodged by the wife's father on the Suburb P property may present as a dispute that arises when the property is to be sold. The shadow of that dispute is unlikely to be cast until the sale of the Suburb P property progresses.
7. A consideration of the above factors as to the alleged loan from the wife's father of $130,000 militates against the balance of convenience as asserted by the husband and his contentions as to prejudice on that subject matter.
8. The trustee helpfully identified by way of Exhibit 7:

(a) If the Suburb P property is sold for $1,325,000 as contended by the husband, after payment out of the mortgage of $396,154 and realisation costs, the available equity to meet the creditors of the bankrupt estate is in the range of $895,720.

(b) If the Suburb P property is sold for $1,250,000 as contended by the wife and the trustee, after the payment of the mortgage and realisation costs, the available equity to meet the creditors of the bankrupt estate is in the range of $822,595.

1. In any event, on either scenario, the anticipated proceeds of sale of the Suburb P property are insufficient to satisfy the current value of the bankruptcy of $988,000. Additionally, the trustee identifies that the wife's tenancy of the Suburb P property may expose the proceeds of sale to the assessment of an additional CGT liability, that the wife is currently ensuring that the mortgage payments for the property are not in arrears, and the wife says she and the children are living in the property and should it be sold, they say they have nowhere to live. For these reasons, the trustee in discharge of his obligations does not propose a sale of the Suburb P property unless the value the bankrupt estate receives on the sale of the Suburb AA property is insufficient to pay the value of the liabilities of the bankruptcy.
2. Exhibit 7 further illustrates:

(a) If the Suburb AA property is sold for $4,850,000 as contended by the wife and the trustee, after the payment of the mortgage of $2,143,859 and realisation costs, the available equity is 2,584,890. The 50 per cent of this equity vesting in the trustee will be 1,292,445. As is self-evident, this is sufficient to satisfy the current value of the bankruptcy of $988,00. Hence, not requiring the Suburb P property to be sold. The bankruptcy can be annulled. The wife's substantive relief is not prejudiced.

(b) If the Suburb AA property is sold for $3,850,000 as contended by the husband, after payment of the mortgage and realisation costs, the available equity is $1,609,890. Fifty per cent of this equity is $804,945. This would then require the Suburb P property to be sold to progress the bankruptcy to be annulled.

1. The proposal of the trustee provides a pathway whereby the wife can possibly retain the Suburb P property in specie on a final basis. The husband seeks that such pathway be summarily determined. A consideration of these possible scenarios further weighs against the balance of convenience as asserted by the husband as to the making of the injunctive order as sought and his contentions as to prejudice.
2. While the husband does not put the fact and value of the debts incurred by the wife by way of legal fees into issue, he contends that the payment of those debts from the wife's 50 per cent legal interest on disposal of the Suburb AA property, through the administration of the bankruptcy, would create an injustice by way of a form of predisposition to his detriment in the final s 79 determination. The contended prejudice is not established because:

(a) It can be sufficiently ameliorated by an order being made in the terms of Exhibit 12 for the reasons identified earlier; and

(b) The wife agrees to an order that, if CC Company is paid from her vested share of the Suburb AA property proceeds, an order will be made for the husband's solicitors to be paid $270,000 from his share of the proceeds to pay his legal fees.

1. The injunctive orders agreed to by the trustee and the wife restraining the disposal of the Suburb P property or regulating the terms of its disposal, together with the injunctive orders for it to be sold if the mortgage is in arrears of greater than two months, ensures that the equity in that property will be protected pending a final hearing.

1. A consideration of the range of funds to be held in a controlled monies account from the sale of the Suburb AA property together with the protection of the equity in the Suburb P property concludes that I am not satisfied that the husband has demonstrated a danger or risk of dissipation such that any final judgment in his favour would be frustrated or imperilled. Such a risk must be real, not theoretical. At best in this instance, it is speculative.
2. A consideration of the above matters leads me to conclude that I am not satisfied that the husband has established that the balance of convenience favours the making of the orders sought as to the simultaneous forthwith sale of both the Suburb AA property and the Suburb P property by the trustee.
3. The parties sought costs. Costs will be reserved.
4. For all the above reasons, I make the orders set out herein.

I certify that the preceding sixty-five (65) numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Judgment of the Honourable Justice Campton.