Coorey v Moruben Nominees Pty Ltd trading as ATF the Coorey Family Trust Fund and ATF the J&J Coorey Trust [2026] NSWSC 1082 — Strike-out Application & Trusts And Trustees — Barrister AI
Coorey v Moruben Nominees Pty Ltd trading as ATF the Coorey Family Trust Fund and ATF the J&J Coorey Trust
CIVIL PROCEDURE — strike-out application — UCPR r 14.28 — whether pleading discloses reasonable cause of action — whether pleading is prolix — no order to strike out pleading
EQUITY — trusts and trustees — family trusts — dispute between two sets of siblings — where trust funds have been used to fund the proceedings — application to restrain defendant siblings from funding litigation out of family trusts — application that such funds already used be paid into Court pending determination of proceedings — consideration of the interests of the family trusts — balance of convenience — relief granted — not necessary to give usual undertaking as to damages
Quick Take
1Where proceedings are in substance a 'beneficiary dispute' — hostile litigation between competing sets of beneficiaries — a trustee has no prima facie entitlement to use trust funds to meet its legal costs of defending the claim during its pendency, and absent an application to the court for the exercise of the 'exceptional jurisdiction' recognised in Alsop Wilkinson (A Firm) v Neary & Ors [1996] 1 WLR 1220, the trustee should be restrained from doing so.
2An order requiring trust funds already expended on litigation to be restored by payment into court is not in the nature of an interlocutory injunction and does not require the usual undertaking as to damages, following Hillier v Martin (No 7) [2021] FCA 1221.
3A pleading alleging an informal arrangement between siblings as to equal sharing of trust distributions is not liable to be struck out under UCPR r 14.28 where the arrangement is relied upon as a factual foundation for recognised causes of action including breach of fiduciary duty, partnership obligations and oppression.
