Where one party has been delinquent in paying income tax during a de facto relationship, the primary tax liability is to be treated as a liability borne by the divisible property, as both parties received the benefit of the unpaid tax. The significance of a large initial contribution by one party is progressively diminished by ongoing contributions but is not to be entirely disregarded; a court cannot allocate no property to a party found to have made 40% of contributions. Under District Court Act s 127(2)(c)(i), the value of the matter at issue on appeal is determined by whether there is a realistic prospect of changing the wealth of the appealing party by at least $100,000.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 18 later cases that cite this judgment.
10 of the 18 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.