Unpaid mortgage, unpaid tax, $82 in child support: 75% to her

Ms and Mr Pecora married and moved in together in 2010, in a house he had bought a few years earlier with little equity. She worked full time until their first child was born, then part time, and was the children's primary carer. He was a self-employed professional. They separated in 2022. Since mid-2022 the children have lived only with her, and he has not seen them. He paid no child support until September 2023, and then only two payments totalling $82.

Judge Parker found that he had let the council rates and water bills go unpaid, the mortgage had fallen into arrears, and he had not lodged tax returns or paid tax since 2016. After the house sold, he refused to let the $413,606 proceeds earn interest. His income collapsed after separation; the judge rejected his explanations but did not need to decide whether it was deliberate, finding he could again earn $60,000 to $80,000 a year. The pool was $355,037 net outside super, after about $55,000 of his tax debts, plus $233,886 of super, nearly all hers.

Contributions were equal until separation, then 5% more to her for raising and paying for the children alone: 55/45. The judge then added a further 20%: she earns a little under $30,000 working two days a week, must rehouse herself and two young children, may not receive adequate child support, and his reckless and negligent handling of their money had shrunk the pool. That made 75/25.

Super was treated as a separate pool. She had brought about $45,000 into the marriage and built most of the rest, so it was also divided 75/25, for different reasons. She received $269,768.16 from the sale proceeds and he received $143,838.37. He ended up with $58,471.54 of super, including a split of $56,722.97 from her fund.