Wills are not always black & white, says Michael Tringham
Australian courts are demonstrating a propensity for changing legacies following Family Provision Applications. Michael Klatt of Brisbane law firm Mullins comments on two recent cases in which the court considers “the applicant’s financial position, the size and nature of the deceased’s estate, the totality of the relationship between the deceased and other persons who have a claim upon his or her bounty”.
In Underwood v Underwood the Supreme Court of Queensland considered an application by a de-facto spouse and three of the deceased’s four adult children.
The estate included an interest in a family-owned business. While none of the deceased’s children had shown any interest in the business, his nephews had worked in it since they were apprentices, were his business partners, and had been effectively conducting the business since 1988. The deceased’s interest in the business and its real property was left entirely to his nephews.
The remaining assets were shared between members of the deceased’s immediate family and his de facto spouse. The fact that there was an inequality between the nephews’ share
