A man from Sutherland died leaving an estate worth approximately $2 million dollars to his de facto wife. The man’s estate consisted of his property in Sutherland worth approximately $1.3 million dollars and saving and cash deposits worth $700,000. When he died he had one surviving adult child. He left his son nothing in his estate, claiming that he had given him sufficient provision during his lifetime. The son contacted Gerard Malouf and Partners and spoke to our will dispute lawyers in relation to contesting a will.
Throughout the deceased’s lifetime he purchased a unit, and later a house in the Sutherland area for our client. It was argued by the estate that our client had been provided for by the deceased prior to his death, and as such our client should not receive any further from money from the estate.
Our experienced will dispute lawyers commenced court proceedings and formulated a convincing argument on behalf of our client. We relied on aspects of our client’s claim such as his age, the fact that he had a young child, he was currently out of work, and had a modest amount of superannuation. We were able to successfully convince the estate that due to our client’s circumstances, he would receive further provision from his late father’s estate.
Shortly following the mediation of our clients claim for family provision the estate made an offer to pay our client $250,000 plus his legal costs to settle his claim.
Our client accepted the estates offer to settle the claim.
We were able to achieve this result quickly and cost effectively. The matter did not get listed for a hearing and our client did not have to go through lengthy court delays or the stress of a hearing for this result. He was very happy with the outcome which has given him a great financial reward.
Have you been left out of will? Have you got a question about challenging a will? Call Gerard Malouf and Partners today to discuss your matter with our will dispute lawyers.
