An elderly man of regional New South Wales passed away leaving a house, some personal items and a small amount of cash. In his last will and testament the deceased left his house to his adult daughter, and spilt the remainder of his Estate equally between his son and daughter. After funeral costs were deducted and legal costs of obtaining Probate, the deceased’s son was to receive less than $10,000 from the benefit left to him in the will. Upon receiving this news the deceased’s son contacted GMP Lawyers to enquire about contesting a NSW will.
Upon taking our client’s instructions we became aware that he was single, living alone in rental accommodation, had no savings and had substantial debts. It became clear that our client was not given adequate provision from his father’s Will and he would easily demonstrate a financial need to be given further provision. Accordingly, we took our client’s instructions to pursue a claim for Family Provision from Estate of his late Father.
The Estate was put on notice of our client’s pending claim and our experienced will dispute lawyers drafted an affidavit on behalf of our client setting out the details of his relationship with his late father, his present financial circumstances and the reasons he required further provision from the Estate. This document was used to facilitate negotiations with the Estate and we were able to successfully negotiate a settlement of our client’s claim without the need for formal court proceedings. Being a modest sized estate this meant that our client and his sister were able to receive more funds from the estate and save on legal costs.
The parties came to an agreement whereby our client was to receive 40% of his late father’s Estate, equating to approximately $100,000. This provision was sufficient for our client to clear his debts and set aside some funds to assist him in the purchase of a property.
If you have an enquiry regarding a loved one’s will contact Gerard Malouf & Partners Will Dispute Lawyers today to find out whether you are able to contest a will or make a Family Provision Claim.
