Twelve years after they split, the court gave her the house

Ms Denning and Mr Wagner began their relationship in 2005, moved in together in 2006 and married in 2008. They separated in October 2012 after about six years of living together, and had no children together. When she came to court they had been apart for about 12.5 years. She was 71 and he was 65.

Their main asset was a modest rural home in Victoria, in both names, worth about $140,000. She said she had paid the whole $55,000 purchase price in 2009 from her super, and she had lived there until recently and paid for it after they separated. She said that in 2023 he had agreed to transfer his half to her, but he did not complete the transfer and then could not be contacted. He took no part in the case, so it went ahead undefended. The judge noted that this was not a judgment by default: she still had to prove her case.

Judge A. Humphreys applied the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) as amended from 10 June 2025, the day before the hearing. The known assets, including his super of $54,521, came to $205,605. Much of her evidence was thin, but the judge gave particular weight to what she had done for the home in the 12.5 years since separation, and assessed contributions at 60% to her and 40% to him.

The judge then added 13% to her for current and future circumstances: her age, her limited earning capacity, the small size of the pool, and his failure to disclose his finances, which left any assets he held unvalued.

The result was 73% to her and 27% to him. He was ordered to transfer his interest in the home to her. With her car, bank accounts, credit card debt and small super balance, her share came to $150,995. He kept his super, a small bank account and whatever else he held, together worth $54,610 plus assets of unknown value.