Gerard Malouf and Partners’ expert will disputes solicitor Mr Garbis Kolokossian was contacted by the adult daughter seeking advice on how to dispute a will of her late father. She also had an unusual enquiry relating to her late father’s estate.
During the course of the initial obligation free consultation we learned that her father passed away leaving the entire Estate to her infant son who she had the day to day care and responsibility of. This was a peculiar decision made by the deceased noting that our client was the sole carer of the infant child (the grandchild of the deceased) and noting that she had a good relationship with the deceased. It would seem as though the deceased made the decision because the infant has an autism spectrum disorder which he was diagnosed with after birth.
Whilst she respected the decision made by her father it was noted that our client required the appropriate financial resources from the Estate to be able to adequately provide for both her children appropriately. She was out of work and living in rented accommodation.
In the circumstances the claimant instructed our contesting a will lawyers to put the Estate on notice of her intention to contest the Will and sought an opportunity to try and resolve the matter amicably without the need for any Court proceedings.
Unfortunately, the attempts made to try and negotiate a resolution were not reciprocated by the Defendant and accordingly we were instructed to make a Family Provision claim by filing a Summons in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
Shortly after filing the Summons, the parties attended a mediation conference ordered by the Court. It was never our client’s intention to seek more than she needed so she was pleased to receive a significant benefit out of the deceased’s Estate in excess of 50%.
Our client did not want to withhold the entire sum of money noting of course that her son with autism may require those resources at a later date as he entered the later years of his adolescent and adult life.
Our client was extremely satisfied with the result of her family provision claim.
If you have any questions about how to contest a Will, have an Estate issue, or generally would like some direction with respect to whether or not a Family Provisions claim is appropriate for you, please do not hesitate to contact Gerard Malouf and Partners for a free consultation to allow our expert solicitors to provide you with some preliminary advice.
