Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 13 June 2025.
Anne is superstitious about making a will. She resides in a nursing home and has a modest bank account. She considers that her assets are not of sufficient value to warrant the making of a will.
When Anne passes-away, a bond is refundable from the nursing home and with her bank account, her assets total $100,000.
Anne left no spouse or children and her parents had passed-away many years ago. In these circumstances where there is no will, Anne’s assets are dealt with “on intestacy” and pass to her five siblings. Unfortunately, one of her brothers had also passed, and his four children are entitled to his share.
However, the nursing home will not release the bond until they receive a grant of probate, which in this case is referred to as Letters of Administration. The grant states the identity of the legal representative of the estate and this is how the nursing home can be sure that it is paying the bond to the appropriate person.
One of Anne’s sisters, Penny, retains a solicitor to assist her in obtaining a grant but they are unable to locate her deceased brother’s birth certificate from overseas and there is no other evidence that he is in fact related to Anne. Accordingly, there is insufficient evidence to proceed with the application to obtain a grant and the matter is listed before a Supreme Court Judge, seeking orders that in the circumstances, the deceased brother’s entitlement should be “passed over”.
After affidavits are filed, Penny’s barrister presents the facts to the Judge, who hands down a 10-page decision two weeks later.
The Judge accepts “reputational” evidence regarding the deceased brother’s children’s entitlement and grants Letters of Administration to Penny, on the basis that her siblings receive 20% of the estate and the deceased brother’s children each receive 5%, equating to just a few thousand dollars each.
If Anne had made a will, significant delays and substantial legal costs could have been avoided.
Email Manny Wood, Principal Solicitor and Accredited Specialist in Wills and Estates at TB Law at manny@tblaw.net.au or call him on (02) 66 487 487.
This fictional column is not legal advice.
