Yesterday the Queensland Court of Appeal handed down its first decision on an informal will case. You can read Lindsay v McGrath here.
Blog
Sale of retirement village unit
Judgment was handed down this afternoon by Burns J in this construction case. I appeared for the respondent. The deceased's will left her daughter "an amount of money equivalent to that amount received by my estate upon the sale of my interest in [a retirement village unit] …" It was argued that the gift failed for two … Continue reading Sale of retirement village unit
WA appeal decision in solemn form case
It's not that often that solemn form cases get to appellate level, so to get a judgment from the WA Court of Appeal in a capacity case is pretty exciting. There were five grounds of all appeal against the trial judge's decision to grant probate in solemn form. All were unsuccessful and the appeal dismissed. … Continue reading WA appeal decision in solemn form case
Court of Appeal speaks on informal wills
On Thursday the NSW Court of Appeal dismissed an informal will appeal. The trial judge had declined to admit the document to probate. The deceased left a valid will leaving everything to his wife. He also left a later document in the same form, with handwritten amendments, signed and dated but not witnessed, leaving everything … Continue reading Court of Appeal speaks on informal wills
Former sex worker not a de facto
The NSW Court of Appeal has dismissed an FPA appeal by a former paid sex worker, later carer for her former client the deceased. The trial judge had found she was not an eligible applicant because she was not in a de facto relationship with the deceased, nor did she fulfil other eligibility criteria (of which … Continue reading Former sex worker not a de facto
Another adult child FPA appeal dismissed
Yesterday the NSW Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by an unsuccessful FPA applicant. The applicant was an adult child of the deceased. His mother died leaving her estate to her spouse (there were notional estate issues as well). The mother and step father had mirror wills which each left their estates to each other, … Continue reading Another adult child FPA appeal dismissed
When is a contract to make a will a contract?
The decision of Haggarty v Wood (No. 2) [2015] QSC 244 was handed down yesterday by Jackson J in an alleged testamentary contract case. I appeared for the defendant. Almost 2 years ago the plaintiffs had their statement of claim struck out, with leave to re-plead. See Haggarty v Wood judgment here. Since then the … Continue reading When is a contract to make a will a contract?
To trust or not to trust, that is the question
Applegarth J today handed down a decision in a family provision application trial that took place earlier this month. I appeared for the applicant. The issue at trial was not whether adequate provision ought to be made, that much was conceded (although quantum was in issue), but whether any award for the applicant ought to … Continue reading To trust or not to trust, that is the question
Lack of trust
In a judgment delivered yesterday, Jackson J of the Supreme Court of Queensland had to decide whether various gifts to Oxfam Australia "for the purposes of [various educational activities in developing countries]" were absolute gifts, conditional gifts, or charitable trusts for the specified purpose. The problem arose because Oxfam could no longer fulfil the specified purposes, … Continue reading Lack of trust
High Court appeal
An application for special leave was filed last week against the decision of the Tasmanian Full Court in Calvert v Badenach [2015] TASFC 8. This is the case where the Full Court held that a solicitor owes a duty to beneficiaries of a will to advise the willmaker of the existence of family provision rights … Continue reading High Court appeal
caitebrewer.com.au 