This was an appeal before Schonell J from a decision of the Magistrates Court of Western Australia (Magistrates Court), with Judgment delivered on 7 March 2025. It was somewhat strange because the proceedings in the lower court had been undefended meaning that the appellant husband didn’t involve himself in those proceedings other than to constantly challenge the jurisdiction of the Court
In property settlement matters, one of the more difficult preparation tasks can be the Balance Sheet. Parties are often at odds with the values to be attributed to certain items and this will generally result in the appointment of Single Experts to value even seemingly insignificant assets. For that reason, it is not uncommon, and generally welcomed by the parties, to look to lay sources such as market appraisals for real estate or Redbook searches for motor vehicles and the like. But what happens if no agreement is reached on values, the parties don’t reach agreement, and the matter proceeds to hearing with only lay evidence of valuations?
This was an appeal before Schonell J from a decision of the Magistrates Court of Western Australia (Magistrates Court), with Judgment delivered on 7 March 2025. It was somewhat strange because the proceedings in the lower court had been undefended meaning that the appellant husband didn’t involve himself in those proceedings other than to constantly challenge the jurisdiction of the Court
In property settlement matters, one of the more difficult preparation tasks can be the Balance Sheet. Parties are often at odds with the values to be attributed to certain items and this will generally result in the appointment of Single Experts to value even seemingly insignificant assets. For that reason, it is not uncommon, and generally welcomed by the parties, to look to lay sources such as market appraisals for real estate or Redbook searches for motor vehicles and the like. But what happens if no agreement is reached on values, the parties don’t reach agreement, and the matter proceeds to hearing with only lay evidence of valuations?
