Worth Having A Go: De Facto Dismissal

WORTH HAVING A GO: De Facto Dismissal

A recent decision by De Facto Dismissal in the Family Court dealt with a man falling in love with a prostitute who he regularly visited. A relationship developed between the two.  She gave up her profession and from 2003 she lived at her partner’s home up to 5 nights per week.  The parties had a sexual relationship on a regular basis.

The man alleged that it was a friendship only and that there was no intention to form a de facto relationship. His partner endeavoured to establish that the relationship was more significant than that.  There was no intermingling of their financial affairs and this was the telling factor. The Judge ultimately ruled that a de facto Dismissal had not occurred and the prostitute’s application was dismissed.
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This reminded me of a case in which I was involved in which my client, the husband, fell in love with a prostitute during the period of his marriage. This was one of the reasons why the marriage had broken down. Although it was not an issue in the matter I was handling and was not raised by the wife the husband’s intentions were to continue in the relationship with the prostitute after the proceedings in the Family Court between himself and his wife had settled. Such a relationship does occur.

I have not yet followed up with my client to determine how his relationship progressed.

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FAMILY LAW & DE FACTO RELATIONSHIPS