On 21 September 2010, the Family Court made orders by consent under section 79 of the Family Law Act 1975 that within seven days, Sandini Pty Ltd (Sandini) as trustee of the Ellison Family Trust, do all acts and things and sign all documents necessary to transfer to the wife 2,115,000 Mineral Resources Limited (MIN) shares.

Sandini was not the trustee of the Ellison Family Trust. Sandini was the trustee of the Karratha Rigging Unit Trust (KRUT) and, in that capacity, owned over 35 million MIN shares.

The issue in this case was who would be responsible to ultimately pay tax on the sale/transfer of the shares. [...]

I would highly recommend West End Legal. Warren is well experienced, professional and has a knack for numbers, especially with complex financial assets including foreign holdings. He was also very helpful with my understanding of initial contributions, he showed me how to breakdown the nature of the asset contributed and its effect made, that was specific to my marriage.

[...] My matter was not easy, in fact it was very complex as Warren found out. Thanks to Warren’s excellent knowledge and understanding of the Legislation, Regulations, law and the team of professional practitioners he works with, I can finally say my matter is resolved and closed.

One of the issues parties face following a separation is what weight should be given to initial contributions compared with contributions over the length of a marriage, especially a long marriage?

If you are considering separating from your partner, or if you have recently separated, you need to consider how the separation will affect your farming enterprise. You should obtain legal advice from an Accredited Family Law Specialist, as well as accounting advice from your accountant.

Warren is an excellent lateral thinker and he helped me tie up all the loose ends. To this day all of the agreements put in place have provided me with ongoing and future certainty and stability, especially as far as my child is concerned.