Mrs Bertilla Girotto died in 2022 at the age of 90. Her estate was valued at $3.6 million. 11 days before her death, Bertilla changed her will. Read more
A lady dies with most of her estate being held within the family home. Her youngest son is forced to leave the property, triggering a claim against the estate. Read more
An estranged son made a $140,000 claim on his late mother’s $475,000 estate, arguing financial hardship and a lack of education and support. Read more
In a case before the Court of Appeal in October 2023, a woman named Irene passed away, sparking a series of family disputes. Read more
In a recent case, a husband and a wife had been married for nearly thirty years with four children. The husband owned a panel beating business and a range of commercial interests including the operation of tow trucks and considerable property holdings, all of which made him wealthy. The man died. His will left the entire $22 million estate to one of his sons. Nothing was left to his wife or other children. The beneficiary son obtained probate. Read more
In 2013 a woman died. She was the mother of a son who was bankrupt. Her will stated that the bankrupt son was to be the executor of her estate and the sole beneficiary. In addition to this, the mother had not made a Binding Death Benefit nomination for her superannuation. This meant that the payment of the superannuation would be decided by the trustees of the super fund. Read more
In 2018 a man died without a will. He had three children. He had separated from his wife eight years prior to his death. Despite separating, the two were not divorced. Not long after the man’s death, his family was shocked to find that their father had a secret lover who they had never met or heard of. She made a claim on their father’s estate. Read more
A father had six daughters. He made a will dividing his estate equally between the six of them. In 2013 he changed his will to give $40,000.00 to each of five of the daughters, and the rest of his $3,000,000.00 estate to his remaining daughter. Read more
Difficult disputes can arise when administering an estate, your choice of executors could be key to avoiding a will challenge. Read more
Even though a no win, no fee agreement may appear to have no downside it is possible that its terms may place you at odds with your lawyer or see you having to accept a settlement which is lower than you might have wished! Read more