Metcalf v Zhang [2018] NSWSC 1998

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Metcalf v Zhang [2018] NSWSC 1998 Hearing dates: 13, 14 December 2017 & 23 March 2018 Date of orders: 21 December 2018 Decision date: 21 December 2018 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Slattery J Decision: Declarations made as to the relative interests of the parties in their two properties. Orders made for the sale of the Waterloo property. Directions issued for potential argument as to costs. Catchwords: REAL PROPERTY – property at Alexandria, NSW purchased by plaintiff and defendant in equal shares as tenants in common in 1994 – mortgage taken out by plaintiff and defendant to fund the acquisition of the Alexandria property – plaintiff and defendant execute a deed in 1994 by which they agree to hold the Alexandria property in equal shares – Alexandria property leased from 2001 until its sale in 2016 – mortgage repayments made using the rent from leasing the Alexandria property – between 2012 and 2015 the defendant makes additional payments totalling $60,000 into a joint offset account of the plaintiff and defendant in relation to the Alexandria property, to reduce the interest payable on the mortgage – Alexandria property sold in 2016 – proceeds of sale deposited into a joint offset account – the same day, the defendant withdraws the proceeds of sale from their joint offset account and deposits them into her own bank account, to which the plaintiff has no access – plaintiff claims his prima facie legal entitlement to a half share of the proceeds of sale – freezing orders made in relation to the defendant's bank accounts – defendant Cross Claims seeking declarations she has more than a half share in the Alexandria property – whether the Alexandria property the subject of a constructive or resulting trust – whether the parties made equal, or other than equal, contributions, both financial and non-financial, to the acquisition of the property.