Whether an advance from a parent to a child constitutes a loan or a gift is determined by the objective evidence of what was said and done by the parties, not by uncommunicated subjective intentions. A mortgage arrangement securing a parental advance is not unjust under the Contracts Review Act 1980 (NSW) where the co-mortgagor understood the arrangement, derived a benefit from it, and had no personal liability for repayment. Proceedings by a third-party creditor (parent) against parties to a marriage concerning the characterisation of an advance and validity of a mortgage are not a 'matrimonial cause' under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), even where the outcome may indirectly affect Family Court proceedings.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 15 later cases that cite this judgment.
2 of the 15 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.