The jurisdictional question under the Family Provision Act 1982 (NSW) — whether provision is adequate for proper maintenance — is reviewable on appeal in accordance with the House v The King discretionary standard, not the Warren v Coombes correctness standard, following Singer v Berghouse. In family provision cases involving a surviving de facto partner with young children, the court may fashion orders that devise the family home subject to an indexed equitable charge in favour of the children, with flexibility for the surviving partner to sell and acquire replacement property. Practitioners must consider the effect of s 145 of the Conveyancing Act 1919 (Locke King's Act) on the allocation of mortgage debts between beneficiaries when calculating the value of estate assets.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 37 later cases that cite this judgment.
4 of the 37 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.