Birney v Birney [2024] NSWSC 591

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Birney v Birney [2024] NSWSC 591 Hearing dates: 6, 7 and 8 May 2024 Date of orders: 8 May 2024 Decision date: 08 May 2024 Jurisdiction: Equity - Real Property List Before: Parker J Decision: See [118] Catchwords: EQUITY — trusts and trustees — plaintiff won jackpot on Keno lottery game — winnings transferred to account in defendant's name and partly used to purchase a property for parties to reside — parties fell out — plaintiff excluded from property — application for possession and declaratory relief by plaintiff — whether winnings were split between parties pursuant to purported syndicate arrangement or held on trust for the plaintiff — orders made in favour of plaintiff Legislation Cited: Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Cases Cited: Payne v Parker [1976] 1 NSWLR 191 Nelson v Nelson (1995) 184 CLR 538 Texts Cited: Heydon, JD, Leeming, MJ and Turner, PG, Meagher, Gummow and Lehane's Equity: Doctrines and Remedies (LexisNexis Butterworths, 5th ed, 2015) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Statement of Claim filed 19 December 2022 Christopher Birney (Plaintiff) David Birney (First Defendant) Kathleen Birney (Second Defendant)

Cross-Claim filed 9 February 2023 David Birney (First Cross-Claimant) Kathleen Birney (Second Cross-Claimant) Christopher Birney (Cross-Defendant) Representation: Counsel: P Reynolds (Plaintiff/Cross-Claimants) D Eardley (Defendants/Cross-Claimants)