Assignment Task
Exam Conditions
Remember this is an EXAM. You must not discuss the exam with anyone else. This means that during the examination period you cannot talk about the content of the unit, the readings, the material in the text, or what happened in class with anyone else. You also cannot discuss your answers with anyone else. This precludes both asking for and giving information. This is an individual piece of assessment and collusion counts as academic misconduct. All exam answers will be checked electronically for plagiarism of other students’ work. You also cannot contact the Lecturer to ask questions about how to answer the exam questions.
Exam Release
This exam is released to the Blackboard site on 9 am on Friday 22 October 2021.
Submission
The due date is 11.59 pm on Tuesday 26 October 2021.
Students must submit their exam answer electronically through the Exam Submission link under Assessment on the Blackboard site by the due date.
Questions
The exam consists of one scenario with three (3) questions. All questions are compulsory.
The exam is worth 60% of the total marks for the unit. The marks allocated to each question are indicated on the paper.
Word Count
The word limit for the exam is 2000. Answers beyond 2000 words will not be read, and will not be taken into account in assessing your mark. You must note the word count at the beginning of your exam answer.
The following ARE included in word count:
Headings.
The following are NOT included in the word count: t
Footnotes; and
Schedules of assets and liabilities.
Referencing
The exam questions can be answered from the material covered by the Blackboard site materials, podcasts and workshops, text book, reference materials, cases and statutes. It is not expected that you will undertake additional research to answer the questions.
All answers should be appropriately referenced. This means that if you are quoting or paraphrasing a principle from a case or piece of legislation you should provide a reference indicating the source. This must be done using footnotes. Note however, full citations are not expected and you will not be penalised for non-compliance with AGLC. Essentially, the purpose is to show that the key argument or legal principle you are referring to stems from a relevant authority. Do not place substantive material in the footnotes. Only case references/ legislation and other scholarly sources should appear in the footnotes. Placing of substantial advice in the footnote will not be considered for the purpose of awarding marks. You do not need a bibliography.
Format
Answers should be typewritten and should be in sentences. You can use dot points when considering a list of factors. Your answer is not required to be in the form of a letter of advice or memorandum of advice.
Answers should be typewritten. Please use black font being 12 point, Times New Roman and 1.5 line spacing.
Criteria
The key marking criteria for this take-home exam are whether you have:
Identified the issues;Stated the relevant and correct law;
Applied the law to the facts;
Provided a legal authority eg. section/s of legislation, name of relevant case/s;Reached a conclusion and provided your client with legal advice;The quality of your written expression, use of correct spelling and grammar.
QUESTION 1
Michelle and Rob lived together for 4 years and subsequently married on 30 June 2004. Michelle was born on 1 May 1981 and is 40 years old. Rob was born on 13 April 1963 and is 58 years old. They have twin boys, Will and Matt who are 7 years old. The boys attend St Stephen’s Catholic School and are in year 2. The couple separated in September 2020.
Michelle worked as a psychologist during the relationship. Until recently she was in full-time employment earning $120,000 per year. Rob worked as an IT consultant during the relationship. He has continued in this position and currently earns $250,000 a year.
The couple separated as Michelle discovered that Rob had been having an affair with Diedre, a 24 year old administrative assistant at his IT company.
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Upon separation, Rob moved out of the former family home and into Diedre’s rented unit. Diedre is not working as she gave birth to a son, Drake, that she had with Rob in August 2021. She was earning $30,000 per year before she finished work. Rob says that they have agreed she will be a stay-at-home mother after the birth. Will and Matt have remained living in the family home with Michelle.
In 2000 when the parties first started living together, Rob owned a house in his sole name at Woolloongabba, valued at $200,000 with no mortgage. He also had $100,000 in savings in the bank. Michelle had a car worth $7,000 and superannuation in an accumulation scheme valued at $2,000. Rob had a car valued at $15,000 and superannuation in an accumulation scheme valued at $180,000.
Early in the marriage, Rob sold the house at Woolloongabba and the parties used the nett sale proceeds of $200,000 and his $100,000 savings to purchase a house at Greenslopes for $500,000. The house at Greenslopes is registered in joint names, and originally had a mortgage in joint names of $200,000. The parties used their joint income to pay the mortgage payments. This house became their family home.
The financial arrangements during the marriage were that the parties generally pooled all of their income into one joint savings account and paid for the mortgage and other expenses with money from this account.
During the relationship, Michelle had 12 months maternity leave after the birth of the twins and then returned to work three days a week. She started back at work full-time when the twins started at school in Prep when they were 5 years old. Both parties shared the care of the boys and domestic duties, apart from the period when Michelle was on maternity leave and working part-time. During that time, Michelle primarily cared for the children and home. Over the course of the entire relationship, Michelle looked after the family finances and Rob attended to outside work at the home, such as mowing the lawn and any home repairs. Two years prior to separation Rob received an inheritance from his father of $500,000. This money was put into the couple’s joint account.
The separation came as quite a shock to Michelle as she had no idea that Rob was having an affair. Shortly after Rob moved out of the home, Michelle was diagnosed with severe depression and was unable to work. She continues to take antidepressants for this condition.
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Rob tells you that last month Michelle was also diagnosed with breast cancer and therefore has not returned to work this year. She is currently undertaking treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Her specialist doctor has advised that this treatment will take approximately 3 months, and they will have to see how effective it is, in terms of whether she will require another 3 months of treatment. The doctor has advised that the prospects of a full recovery are good, although Michelle will be required to complete regular health checks every 5 years to determine if the cancer has returned.
The house at Greenslopes is now valued at $2,500,000 and has a $500,000 mortgage. The mortgage was increased when the parties renovated the home 5 years ago. The total amount of Rob’s $500,000 inheritance was also used for the renovations. Michelle organised for an architect to draft plans and she project managed the renovation, organising the builder and various tradespeople. The house and mortgage have remained in joint names. The couple have both continued to contribute towards the mortgage repayments. Michelle has superannuation in an accumulation scheme currently valued at $150,000. Rob has superannuation in an accumulation scheme currently valued at $700,000. Michelle currently has a Volkswagen golf car valued at $15,000. Rob currently has a Toyota Prado four-wheel drive valued at $40,000. At separation the couple had one joint bank account with a current balance of $42,000. There is a joint credit card debt of $8,000.
Two months after separation Rob won $1,000,000 in Powerball. Rob had been in a syndicate with two other friends, and they jointly won $3,000,000. He tells you that Michelle does not know about the win, and he doesn’t want to tell her.
Rob says that, as he won the money after separation, he doesn’t think this information is relevant to Michelle. He also advises that, after he moved out of the family home, he has subsequently closed the joint account which had $42,000 in it (he and Michelle received $21,000 each) and set up a bank account in his sole name. He paid for the ticket from this bank account and deposited the winnings into a term deposit in his sole name. Rob informs you that he is currently paying a total of $300 a week in child support to Michelle for the boys. He also pays all school fees for the boys. As at the date that Rob comes into see you, he says that he currently has $1,021,000 in a bank account in his sole name and Michelle has $21,000 in a bank account in her sole name.
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You are acting for Rob. He wants to find out how he can sort out his property settlement. He says that Michelle is seeking to remain in the family home with the boys, if possible. Rob is happy for this to be part of the settlement, if it works out with what he is legally entitled to.
The boys are spending time with him every second weekend for 3 nights and for 1 night on Wednesdays, in alternate weeks, and for one half of all school holidays. Rob informs you that he has recently filed an application for divorce and the hearing is in December 2021.
Advise Rob and ensure that you include the following:
What preliminary steps Rob should take to attempt to finalise his financial relationship with Michelle prior to commencing any court proceedings;
[10 marks]
How a court may approach the determination of a property dispute between Michelle and Rob. You will need to include a schedule of assets and liabilities setting out the property pool and the steps the court will follow, including the parties’ estimated percentage entitlements; and
[45 marks]
How the court may redistribute the property, including a schedule of assets and liabilities setting out this proposed redistribution
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