Our client was left out of her father’s will but received over $250,000 in settlement after instructing Gerard Malouf and Partners. Our client’s father passed away leaving an estate valued just under $2 million. Our client’s father did not make any provision for her in his will. The Deceased left the majority of his estate, including his interests in two properties, to our client’s two brothers. Our client felt that this was unfair, and sought legal advice from Gerard Malouf and Partners with regards to contesting a will.
Client’s Relationship with her Father
For the majority of her life, our client had a very good relationship with her father. Our client used to maintain regular contact with her father, and visited him weekly to assist him with the household chores, and to simply spend time with him.
Our client’s father inherited a large amount of money from his parents and gifted a portion of this money. Our client used this money to assist her in establishing her own finances. Unfortunately, after inheriting this money, the Deceased became very rude to and distant from our client. On one of the occasions when our client visited her father to assist him, she had an argument with the Deceased relating to his treatment of her. Unfortunately, as a result, our client fell out with her father and had limited contact with her father from that point onwards.
At the time of her father’s death, our client was a married middle aged woman who owned her family home with her husband. Our client had been unemployed for a lengthy period of time. However, our client’s family fell into financial difficulties and as a result she had to return to the paid workforce.
Garbis Kolokossian, one of the experienced solicitors from Gerard Malouf and Partners, acted immediately to put the Defendant in this matter on notice of our client’s intention to make a claim. Garbis then attended to filing proceedings in the Queensland Courts within the applicable time limits.
Garbis maintained ongoing negotiations with the Defendant’s solicitors even after proceedings were filed. Despite these efforts the matter was unable to be settle prior to hearing. Garbis backed our client and worked hard to achieve the best result possible for her. Over the course of the hearing the Defendant’s solicitors made an offer of settlement of $250,000. Our client very happily instructed Garbis to accept this offer.
If you or someone you know is considering contesting a will, be sure to contact Gerard Malouf and Partners. Our team of experienced solicitors will ensure that you receive the best result possible.
