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Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 9 February 2024. Harry passes-away leaving an estate worth $3 million. Harry’s will, prepared 30 years ago, leaves his whole estate to his son, George. He makes no provision for his three daughters. The three daughters make “family provision” claims against Harry’s estate. At the hearing, the daughters ask the Court to award each of them $600,000 and express the view that it is appropriate for them to be treated equally. There is no evidence as to why Harry chose to disinherit his daughters. George submits that the daughters should not be treated [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 2 February 2024. Jack meets Jill, 15 years his junior and after dating for a year, they become engaged to be married. They both bring no substantial assets into the relationship. Jack and Jill enter-into a long-distance relationship for a year before Jack wins the lottery. He says to Jill; “We won the lotto!”. They are married shortly thereafter and Jack purchases a home with the winnings. Jack and Jill move-into the home with Jill’s three children from a previous relationship. Jill’s children move-out five years later and after a couple of years, [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 26 January 2024. Dave, a creature of habit, purchased a lotto ticket every week. He was a pillar of the community who unfortunately lost his wife, in tragic circumstances, several years ago. Dave maintained a relationship with his mum and his supportive sister. Dave loved his two children, Wayne and Sharon very much and worked hard to provide for them. Tragically, Dave was unexpectedly killed by a lightning strike. However, in a turn of events that can only be described as extraordinary, his lotto ticket that week was a winner, netting a windfall [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 19 January 2024. Mal was an eccentric millionaire and later in life he was well known for bouts of mental instability. Mal died and his will left the bulk of his estate to two of his three children. Ronny was given a comparably very small amount due to his vengeful relationship with his father. Ronny, not happy, challenged the will, alleging that his father lacked the mental capacity to make sound decisions regarding his large estate. Ronny’s legal argument hinged on Mal’s well-documented mental health history, alleging to the Court that his father [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 12 January 2024. Jane’s mother passes-away leaving an estate worth $3 million. Under the will, Jane only receives some of her mother’s jewellery and a gift of $50,000. The rest of the estate is shared amongst her siblings. At the time of executing her will, Jane’s mother also made a statutory declaration stating that she considered the terms of her will in great detail and that the provision that Jane receives under the will was relatively small because she had been estranged from Jane for approximately 10 years and during that time Jane [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 22 December 2023. On a magical Christmas morning, George, aged 8, and his younger sister Milla, aged 7, woke up to find two adorable and fluffy bunnies under their Christmas tree - gifts from Father Christmas himself. Their parents, however, had their reservations about these new additions to the family, considering they already had a Labrador named Paddy, who was the apple of everyone's eye. Before the arrival of these bunnies, their parents had voiced their concerns to Father Christmas's elves, who assured them that the rabbits would not disrupt their household's balance. [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 15 December 2023. Helen and her husband separate and they divide their assets amicably. Consent Orders are filed with the effect that Helen receives a substantial lump sum and her husband retains the matrimonial home. Twelve months after separation, an Application for divorce is filed and granted. In light of the divorce, Helen is aware that her ex-husband will not receive anything from her estate when she passes-away and she is happy that her two children will receive the whole of her estate “on intestacy”. She sees no reason to make a new [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 8 December 2023. Tara has just purchased her dream family property. She now wants to install a basketball court for the kids. Tara calls a local concrete landscaper to see if they can convert an old tank foundation into a court. Brad from Dodgy Dog Landscaping tells Tara that he can do the job. “Trust me”, he says. Tara enters-into a contract with Dodgy Dog to prepare the court and install the backboard. After two months of competitive ball, Tara notices cracks around the backboard base. The cracks get bigger and bigger, until [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 1 December 2023. Susan’s husband passed-away many years ago. She has three children and six grandchildren. When Susan passes-away at the age of 85, her will leaves the whole of her estate to her three children equally. All three children are appointed as executors and obtain a grant of probate. Susan’s estate is valued at $1.5 million. Gary, one of the grandchildren makes a “family provision” claim against the estate. Gary claims that he is eligible to make a claim because he could establish that he was a grandchild who was partly dependent [...]

Article by Manny Wood published in the Coffs Coast News Of The Area on 24 November 2023. John and Mary have two adult children and several grandchildren. They have joint assets of $1.5 million. Their children have almost paid-off their home mortgages and are both gainfully employed. When they talk to their solicitor about their estate planning, their solicitor recommends that they consider making wills that establish testamentary trusts (TT Wills). The effect of these types of wills is that upon John and Mary’s passing, their children have the option to use a testamentary trust as a vehicle for their inheritance. John and Mary own most of [...]