Page 4552 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 14 December 1993
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Ms Follett: Not at this stage.
Mr Connolly: Our de facto legislation before the Assembly will.
MR HUMPHRIES: Yes. I can hear objections from those opposite, but I am making the point merely that this wording is fairly broadly drafted. It occurred to me that it would be open to interpretation to say that it includes all people who live on a bona fide domestic basis. Those are the words used in the Bill. Perhaps the Chief Minister could - - -
Mr Connolly: A spouse means a person living as a spouse.
MR HUMPHRIES: It is open to some doubt, it seems to me, and it would be helpful if the Chief Minister could clarify what the intention of the Bill is in speaking to this matter. I am making no objection to whatever interpretation she chooses to place on it. I merely think it would be helpful for the courts, in interpreting this, if they understood what was intended, so that there was no question of ambiguity.
The final point deals with the question of extension of the right of people to transfer assets into joint names. It is proposed to include in Schedule 1 of the principal Act a new paragraph allowing for a conveyance to be exempt, namely:
(db) by a person to his or her spouse of an interest in property that is, at the date of the conveyance, used as their principal place of residence, if the conveyance results in the interest in the property being held by the spouses as -
(i) joint tenants;
(ii) tenants in common in equal shares; or
(iii) tenants in common in shares that are proportionate to the contributions of the spouses towards the purchase and improvement of the property or in such proportions as are prescribed.
Leaving to one side the question about prescribing particular proportions, the issue that needs to be faced is how useful that provision will be. Take, for example, the case of a couple who have been married for a number of years. Husband and wife have a house but the house is in the husband's name. Pursuant to this arrangement, the husband wishes to make sure that the wife's equal interest in the home, as reflected by the principles of the Family Law Act, is reflected in the title deeds. The husband arranges to transfer a half share in the house to the wife. Under the terms of this arrangement, that would be exempt from stamp duty.
Consider a second case: Husband and wife get married; husband owns a house; husband also owns an investment property. He owns two properties. The husband wishes to make his wife an equal partner in their relationship and to share equally the goods of that marriage and therefore wishes to ensure that both parties are equal owners of the property of the marriage. The provisions here will
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