Blog
Yet again, the Supreme Court has dealt with the issue as to whether provision should be made from a deceased estate for a person who claims to have been the deceased's de facto partner, or some other form of "eligible person", for that person's future maintenance, education or...
When a person creates a will, they have the power to decide who will inherit their property and assets after they pass away. In some cases, a testator may choose to exclude a child from their will, and in such cases, they may choose to include a statement explaining the reasons why the...
In a modern society where dynamic family structures are becoming more prevalent and varying methods of contraception are widely accessible, it follows that the legal definition of a 'child' has broadened significantly. Where 'child' was previously considered as only biological, the definition has...
Division 2 (in particular, section 18) of the Succession Act 2006(NSW) allows the Court to authorise wills to be made, altered or revoked for persons who do not have testamentary capacity , whilst they are still alive (s18(3)) – this includes a minor who does not have the capacity...
Overview
Wills and Estates can be a particularly complex area of law, especially where multiple family provision claims are being made. In the case of Ng v Lau; In the Estate of Ken Kui Yuen Lau [2020] NSWSC 713, a number of issues were raised including two family provision...
It can be hard when preparing a Will to determine whether or not the testator ought to leave a token legacy for those people whom they believe would otherwise make a claim on their estate. This case is an example of the possible orders a court will make where it is satisfied that the main...
In a judgment handed down on 30 April 2019, the Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal by the adult children of a deceased man for further provision from his Estate.
The Case: Squire v Squire [2019] NSWCA 90 (30 April 2019)
The Family – In this case, the deceased had three...
CASE UPDATE: The Supreme Court of New South Wales has recently handed down a decision (Stone v Stone [2019] NSWSC 233) stressing the need for participants to Family Provision proceedings to make full and frank financial disclosure to the Court, and to the other parties. This means complete...
The term "Crisp order" refers to the principal established by the 1979 Supreme Court of New South Wales decision, Crisp v Burns Philp Trustee Company Ltd. The principle relates to family provision cases, where a person who satisfies the definition of "eligible person" makes a...
On 10 August 2017, the Supreme Court yet again made an order in favour of an adult child who claimed for a larger share of their deceased parent's estate, under the family provision laws: Towson v Francis [2017] NSWSC 1034
The family
The person making the claim was one of 3 adult...
For a whole variety of reasons, some clients choose to leave close family members out of their Wills. Sometimes it’s because of a long-standing family conflict, sometimes because they feel that a particular family member does not need as much financial assistance as other family...
A recent Supreme Court decision (Lodin v Lodin; Estate of Dr Mohammad Masoud Lodin [2017] NSWSC 10) has highlighted the rights that former spouses may have to make a claim on a deceased’s estate – particularly if the estate is substantial and the Court finds that the...
