Marsh v Marsh [2014] FamCAFC 24 (25 February 2014)
The Full Court of the Family Court llowed the wife’s appeal against an earlier property order,
The case involved a 21 year marriage with three children. where the parties had been separated for 10 years, The property pool growing in this time from $3.5m to $4.8m.
The wife’s appeal was against the 20 per cent loading given to the husband on contributions under section 75(2) of the Family Law Act 1975.
Based on the evidence submitted, the court concluded that “the husband built his career due to the wife by mutual agreement not working outside the home but assuming the role of homemaker and parent”, and that “the foundation for the property transactions . . . subsequent to separation was the property acquired during the marriage and the husband’s income acquired through advancement in his employment” with “[t]he wife [contributing] significantly to each”.
The court also said that because of the disparity of the parties’ incomes (the husband was earning approximately $13,000 per week), a great adjustment should have been made in favour of the wife.