Succession Nerd | Wifey | Mummy | Wills, Estates & Elder Lawyer
Earlier this year, I was surprised to read a judgement where a former spouse successfully claimed for further provision from her former husband's estate notwithstanding the pair had completed a property settlement 25 years prior. You can read my earlier post here. It may come as no surprise that the matter was appealed to the … Continue reading “Divorced from reality”: Appeal allowed in former spouse FPA claim (NSW)
Sadly, it's not often I read of a case where the applicant/plaintiff's endeavours lack self-interest. Given the nature of estate litigation, generally in a good portion of the cases, self-interest takes a front seat. Of course, that doesn't mean to say that it is greed or something sinister that drives a person to take … Continue reading Selfless surrender: defacto partner applies for Statutory Will to benefit mother and sisters (NSW)
It’s likely been in your news feed recently that an unsent text message was held by a Queensland Court to be a valid Will. It may seem quite unbelievable to some that this would even happen! On the other hand, maybe it doesn’t? Reviewing the comments that appear in many of the media articles online … Continue reading The Unsent Text Message Will: Is it really that simple? No – it’s really not!
In case it's not already evident to my readers, I have a particular interest in family provision cases that touch on disentitling conduct or estrangement. So, it's no surprise this recent case in the Supreme Court of NSW caught my eye yesterday where a family provision application by an adult child, who was excluded from … Continue reading Excluded child’s claim dismissed: 40 years of estrangement after bitter divorce (NSW)
Recently the Supreme Court in the ACT was called to determine a question of the interpretation of a Will and subsequent amendments made to the Will by the testator on the day he died. In the Estate of Rummer [2017] ACTSC 277, the Plaintiff called upon the Court to determine the true construction of the … Continue reading “Probable intention”: Novel rectification case in ACT
Admittedly, it's not something that one regularly thinks about, but the issue of incapacitated people making Wills is a topic that achieves much discussion nowadays. Where a person doesn't have a Will, whether by choice or otherwise, the law provides what I like to call a "back-up plan" or formula, if you will, of how … Continue reading No Will, no way?: Court refuses application for statutory Will in large estate (Qld)
This morning, I read a very interesting case that makes me think of the tasks I do on a daily basis; taking notes of my client's instructions. The case of Public Trustee v Bott [2017] TASSC 43 involved a question of whether a File Note could be an informal document containing the deceased’s testamentary intentions … Continue reading Informal Revocation: Can a File Note be enough to revoke a Will? (TAS)
