Norbis v Norbis
| Norbis v Norbis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | High Court of Australia |
| Full case name | Norbis v Norbis [1] |
| Decided | 1986 |
| Citation | 161 CLR 513 |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Mason, Wilson, Brennan, Deane and Dawson JJ |
| Case opinions | |
| appeal allowed Mason & Deane JJ Wilson & Dawson JJ Brennan J | |
Norbis v Norbis is a decision of the High Court of Australia.[1]
The case is important to Family Law; for its holdings concerning the correct approach when assessing parties' contributions, during a division of assets.
It is the 30th most cited case of the High Court.[2][3]
Facts
[edit]
The parties to the appeal were two people seeking divorce after a 30 year marriage. Three years after the divorce was granted, orders were made by the Family Court altering the property interests of the parties.[Note 1] The overall effect of the trial judge's order was to grant the husband 60%. This figure was reached after dividing five of the couple's six major assets in favour of the husband, and one in favour of the wife.[4]
The orders were varied upon appeal to the Full Family Court, who instead adopted a global approach to asset division. This choice of method effectively reduced the husband's entitlement to 57%.[5][6]
The husband then obtained special leave before the High Court
Judgement
[edit]The High Court was asked to decide whether a 'global' or 'asset by asset' calculation is the correct approach when assessing contributions to a relationship.[7]
The Court decided to preference neither alternative. It held that the legislation did not require a certain method; and that the most appropriate method would depend on the facts. Either approach might be wholly or partially adopted depending on the circumstances.
It noted that an assessment of a homemaker's contribution would usually be done by reference to the whole of their partner's property. This would convenience a global approach being adopted to asset division in most cases.
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ These orders were made under s79(1) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)
References
[edit]- ^ "BarNet Jade - Find recent Australian legal decisions, judgments, case summaries for legal professionals (Judgments And Decisions Enhanced)". jade.io. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ^ "Note: LawCite citation statistics track the written judgements of courts, journal articles, and tribunals. (both in Australia and overseas)". Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ Note: data is as of September 2020
- ^ Wilson & Dawson JJ, at [3]
- ^ Wilson & Dawson JJ, at [4]
- ^ Gray, Kevin (1986). "matrimonial property — new developments" (PDF). Australian Law Reform Commission - Reform Journal. 51: 125 – via Austlii.
- ^ "Property Case Studies | Armstrong Legal | Family Lawyers". Armstrong Legal. Retrieved 1 June 2021.