Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 26 March 2016.
When Jane passes away at the age of 75, her estate consists of a share in real estate worth $550,000.
Jane was never married and did not have any children.
Jane’s will leaves the whole of her estate to her “poor” sister.
Jane transferred a one third share in her house to her friend John, 20 years ago.
John now makes a claim against Jane’s estate, claiming that he should have received some provision under her will.
John is 65 years of age. He receives an aged pension and has very few assets other than his share of the house.
John initially claims that he was in a de facto relationship with Jane but under cross examination, he eventually concedes that this was not the case.
John says that his relationship with Jane was like that of “brother and sister” and that for a few years he “helped with her care”.
The court hears evidence that John had misused Jane’s bank account.
The court states that a person can make a claim on one’s estate if, at the date of death, they were in a “close personal relationship” whereby one of them provides the other with “domestic support and personal care”.
The court also states that the requirement that an applicant and the deceased were “living together” was satisfied because although they never lived together in a conventional single household, John did move into the property shortly before Jane’s death.
The court ultimately awards John the sum of $125,000, subject to an order that he account to the estate for the funds that he had misused, in the sum of $50,000.
In relation to legal costs, the court orders that all of the costs, including John’s legal costs are to be paid out of the estate.
