Families make promises about property all the time. “Move in and look after the place it’ll be yours one day.” “Do the renovations, and you can live here as long as you like.” These assurances are usually made with real affection and every intention of following through. But intentions change, cir...

When a family member is left out of a will or left with less than they believe is fair, the natural focus is on the merits: was the provision adequate? What were the deceased’s obligations? Who needs what? But there is a second question that is every bit as important and far too often pushed to th...

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 to make a Will (s1...

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 claims, and whether a s...

We often hear people say “I’ve been putting off my will for such a long time!” But what happens if you put it off for too long and you don’t have the opportunity to have your will prepared by a solicitor, or even if you write your own Will without the benefit of obtaining legal advice, in the hope t...

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 beneficia...

Something we get asked all the time is, “what do I have to do now that I’m executor?”.  Whilst people generally realise they need to attend to estate tasks like arranging funerals, applying for probate and generally administering the Estate of the deceased, they do not always realise all that goes i...

Choosing who you want to administer your Will once you have passed is an important decision. Whoever you choose will be responsible for managing your estate and all the assets and liabilities contained therein. The role of executor is that of a fiduciary (i.e. a position of trust), which means there...

If a deceased person has not specified whether they would like to be buried or cremated (in their Will or otherwise), the legal right to make such a decision rests with the deceased’s next of kin.

The Supreme Court decision of Dragarski v Dunn [2019] NSWSC 300 dealt with a deceased who had died int...

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 disclosur...

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 claim against the esta...