WENTWORTH v WENTWORTH (Executor of Estate of the late G N Wentworth) [1992] NSWCA 269

WENTWORTH v WENTWORTH (Executor of Estate of the late G N Wentworth)

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES — COURT OF APPEAL

MAHONEY JA 24 July 1992

[1992] NSWCA 269

Mahoney JA. There is before the court an application by the plaintiff, Kate Wentworth, to restrain — and I put the matter generally and without being precise — the respondent, Peter Fitzwilliam Neville Wentworth, from dealing with assets of the estate of the father of each of them upon the basis that the plaintiff, Katherine Wentworth, has pending a claim for provision out of the estate under the Family Provision Act. The matter has been dealt with by a judge, and by this Court, and an application for leave to appeal is pending in the High Court of Australia. I believe that application is to be dealt with, subject to the court's business, on 3 August 1992. Miss Wentworth has applied to the court, as I have indicated — again I put the matter generally — to restrain the disposition of those properties pending the final determination of the Family Provision matters in order that — as she claims — her rights under that Act may not be defeated.

There is in existence an injunction and/or an arrangement directed to preserving the status quo in relation to thesematters. There is an application — I mention parenthetically — before the court charging contempt against Mr Wentworth in relation to dealings, or suggested dealings, with the property contrary to the existing injunction or arrangements. That matter was to be dealt with today. Unfortunately, by reason of two of the judges involved in the matter not being available, it cannot be dealt with and it will be otherwise disposed of.

However, application has been made to the court on motion — admittedly filed on 20 July 1992 — to amend the injunction or arrangement to which I have referred. The amendment involves the addition to the schedule to the order of the court of the properties in question, or some of them, of two pieces of property. The reference to them is referred to in the Notice of Motion. The folio identifiers are 4-718101 and 2-718101. They are said to comprise areas of.0994 hectares and 184.9 hectares. I detail these references so they may appear conveniently on the transcript.