Hungerford (by his tutor Ahadizadeh) v Richardson and Ors [2017] NSWSC 297

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Hungerford (by his tutor Ahadizadeh) v Richardson and Ors [2017] NSWSC 297 Hearing dates: 13, 14 and 15 March 2017 Date of orders: 31 March 2017 Decision date: 31 March 2017 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Lindsay J Decision: (1) DECLARE that the partnership between the plaintiff and the first defendant was dissolved upon disposal of the partnership business by the defendants.

(2) ORDER that the partnership be wound-up under the direction of the Court, that accounts be taken and that there be a court-annexed mediation in the meantime.

(3) DECLARE that a rent roll claimed by the first defendant to be her own was partnership property.

(4) DECLARE that land purchased by the defendants with proceeds of sale of the rent roll is held on trust for the former partners pending taking of partnership accounts.

(5) ORDER that the defendants be restrained from disposing of, encumbering or otherwise dealing with the land, or receipts of proceeds of sale of the rent roll, pending the taking of accounts. Catchwords: PARTNERSHIPS AND JOINT VENTURES — Partnerships — Terms of partnership agreement — Partnership agreement not in writing — One partner unavailable to give evidence due to mental incapacity — Need to assess evidence as a whole — Evidence of conversations viewed in context — Terms of partnership inferred from course of dealing.

PERSONAL PROPERTY— Ownership of property used by a partnership — Extent of legal and beneficial interest in property contributed to partnership — Property acquired using resources of the partnership — Property forms part of partnership property. Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995 NSW Guardianship Act 1987 Guardianship Act 1987 NSW NSW Trustee and Guardian Act 2009 NSW Partnership Act 1892 NSW Property, Stock And Business Agents Act 1941 NSW Property, Stock And Business Agents Act 2002 NSW Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 NSW Cases Cited: Barber v Rasco International Limited [2012] EWHC 269 Chan v Zacharia (1984) 154 CLR 178 Commissioner of Taxation v Everett (1980) 143 CLR 440 Crawshay v Collins (1808) 15 Ves. Jun. 218 at 226; 33 ER 736 Equuscorp Pty Limited v Hoxton (2012) 246 CLR 498 at [23], [96] and [122]. Jones v Dunkel (1959) 101 CLR 298 Plunkett v Bull (1915) 19 CLR 544 Watson v Foxman (1995) 49 NSWLR 315 Yango Pastoral Co. Pty Limited v First Chicago Australia Limited (1978) 139 CLR 410 at 423; Texts Cited: KL Fletcher, The law of Partnership in Australia (9th ed, Law Book Co, 2007) chapter 5 RI Banks, Lindley and Banks on Partnership (19th ed, Thomson Reuters, 2010; second cumulative supplement, 2013) AG Lang, Estate Agency Law and Practice in NSW (5th ed, Law Book Co. 1994), para [3205] AG Lang and P Morgan, NSW Estate Agency Law and Practice (6th ed, Law Book Co, 2008), para [30.60] NSW Parliamentary Debate (Hansard), Legislative Council, 28 March 1957, page 4180 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Plaintiff: Adrian Derek Hungerford by his tutor Kambiz Ahadizadeh