A MAN forced to dig up his parents' ashes after the Family Court ordered his former wife retain the family farm has described the decision as ''a kick in the guts''.

The man, given the pseudonym Mr Moss by the court, had to demolish the memorial garden he had established, which included removing headstones over buried urns containing his mother's and father's ashes.

Illustration: Cathy Wilcox

Mr Moss and his former wife, known as Mrs Moss, ''desperately wanted'' the sole right to the southern highlands property.

But Justice Stewart Austin cited the ''transportability of [her] husband's mementoes'' as weighing in Mrs Moss's favour when deciding who should get the farm when their joint assets were carved up.