Carnegie v Nelson-Carnegie [2023] NSWSC 1379

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Carnegie v Nelson-Carnegie [2023] NSWSC 1379 Hearing dates: 13 November 2023 Date of orders: 15 November 2023 Decision date: 15 November 2023 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Elkaim AJ Decision: See paragraph 42 Catchwords: CIVIL PROCEDURE — Hearings — Ex parte — where the defendant was made aware of the hearing date on multiple occasions by the plaintiff — whether the court should proceed in the absence of the defendant. FAMILY LAW — Jurisdiction — Appropriate forum — where the plaintiff seeks to enforce a term sheet entered into pursuant to a financial agreement which sought to divide the parties' assets — whether summons concerned a "matrimonial cause". CONTRACTS — Remedies — Specific performance — where the first two steps in the term sheet were carried out — where the defendant did not respond to requests to complete the final step in the term sheet — whether specific performance, as opposed to damages, was the appropriate approach. Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), s 94 Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), Pt VIIIA, s 4 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), rr 29.7(2)(a), 40.8 Cases Cited: Bate v Priestley (1989) 13 Fam LR 376 Patel v Patel [2015] NSWDC 2 Perlman v Perlman (1984) 155 CLR 474; [1984] HCA 4 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Mark Howard Carnegie (Plaintiff) Tanya Nelson-Carnegie (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr J Gooley (Plaintiff)