By Craig Nicol and Keleigh Robinson -
Key decisions
- Peng & Zhang [2026] FedCFamC1A 83
- Caldwell & Caldwell [2026] FedCFamC1A 81
- Mihova & Mihova [2026] FedCFamC1A 79
- Ashdown & Markin (No 2) [2026] FedCFamC1F 164
PROPERTY
Husband’s property adjustment proceedings an abuse of process – commenced ‘to acquire evidence about the wife’s financial transactions for collateral use in’ ongoing Chinese litigation
In Peng & Zhang [2026] FedCFamC1A 83 (13 May 2026), the Full Court (Austin, Harper and Christie JJ) heard a husband’s appeal from orders of Hartnett J that dismissed his property adjustment application as an abuse of process.
The wife lived in Australia. The husband lived in China. They separated in 2019. The parties had been involved in matrimonial proceedings in China before the husband commenced proceedings in Australia in 2023 (at [2]-[4]). Hartnett J dismissed the husband’s application, concluding that it was ‘not a bona fide attempt to invoke the jurisdiction of an Australian court to adjudicate the parties’ rights in respect of the wife’s Australian property’. The husband appealed.
