A biological son has received a substantial payout from his father’s estate after being abandoned by his father as a young child. This client sought the advice of the wills dispute lawyers of Gerard Malouf and Partner on contesting a will in NSW and instructed us to resolve the claim on his behalf.
Our client had not had any contact with his father since he was a young child. He attempted to make contact with his father on a couple of occasions but felt his father was distant and uninterested in meeting with him.
He had also learnt that his father had remarried and had another son. The father’s Will noted his son out of his new marriage as the main beneficiary and completely left out our client.
Our client has held many jobs since dropping out of school at a young age. He has plied his trade mainly as a bricklayer. Approximately 2 years prior to his father’s death he had suffered a debilitating back injury during his employment and has been unable to work since.
He is attempting to study to increase his chances of getting a job in the future and does not own his home and instead rents. He has limited superannuation and gets a meagre amount from Centrelink on a fortnightly basis.
Upon meeting with our will dispute lawyers our client was advised that he was able to make a case for the maintenance, education and advancement of his life. All of the above material is relevant in his contesting a will application.
Accordingly, we commenced his contesting a will case by preparing an affidavit on his behalf and commenced proceedings in court.
As part of the court procedure a mediation date was set down to allow the parties to negotiate a fair resolution of the will dispute. On the date of mediation, our client, his solicitor and barrister attended the mediation and negotiated a successful settlement.
Offers were exchanged back and forth over the day before an offer of over $200,000.00 was made which he was delighted to accept. Compared to being left out of the Will completely this was a fantastic result and the claim had settled within 6 months of commencing in court.
If you have been left out of the will of a family member please contact Gerard Malouf and Partners will dispute lawyers for a free consultation so that you may obtain advice on contesting a will.
