Our client’s mother left him out of her will, and left all her assets to a distant relative. Our client contacted David Cossalter of the Contesting Wills team at GMP to ascertain whether contesting a will was an option he could pursue.
Our client had assisted his parents throughout his life whilst he was living with them. Our client’s parents worked long hours as they ran their own community supermarket. During this time our client would look after his younger siblings after school as well as cooking and cleaning the house. Following the death of our client’s father his mother inherited his father’s estate. At the time our client did not contest his father’s will as he believed he would benefit from his mother’s estate. However, their relationship turned sour after our client pursued work in another state. Although our client offered to help his mother find a place nearby so that he could look after her in her old age, she refused to move.
Our client had recently had open heart surgery. Our client’s doctors advised him not to go back to work as the stress and exertion could lead to further medical complications. As a result our client was unemployed and eating into his life savings. Our client did not have any interests in real estate and his superannuation was limited. Our client only had nominal assets and lived week to week trying to make ends meet.
David Cossalter was able to help our client to achieve a good outcome, by filing court proceedings and simultaneously maintaining negotiations with the Estate. Our client accepted an offer of settlement which reflected 20% of the Estate’s value. Our client had the following to say about David:
“I thought contesting a will would be complicated, but David took the stress out of it. I was very happy with the result I achieved.”
If you are considering challenging a will get in contact with our experienced Contesting Wills lawyers at GMP and let us help you achieve a better outcome.
