A Dubbo woman has received in excess of $50,000 after successfully contesting the Will of her late Aunt. Our client was an elderly woman without significant assets to her name. She relied on a Government pension for an income which often did not meet her expenses. As she had a close and personal relationship with her Aunt, our client’s Aunt would often provide her with funds to assist in meeting her every day expenses.
When our client’s Aunt died she left a Will whereby she equally distributed her Estate between a step-daughter and another family member. The deceased had no children of her own and no spouse at the time of her death. She left an Estate worth approximately $350,000.
Upon receiving the news that she had been excluded from her Aunt’s Will our client contacted Gerard Malouf & Partners Contesting Will Lawyers to find out if she could contest a Will in circumstances where she had been excluded from a Will. Our experienced Lawyers were able to ascertain that the niece would be an eligible person who would be able to bring a claim for Family Provision from the Estate of her late Aunt.
Ordinarily, nieces and nephews are not eligible persons under the family provision legislation. However our client had previously lived in the same house hold as her Aunt, and could demonstrate she was finically dependent upon her throughout her life. As a result, our client met the appropriate criteria to enable her to bring a claim for provision from her late Aunt’s Estate.
With our client’s instructions our experienced will dispute lawyers commenced court proceedings against the Estate and an affidavit setting out the basis of our client’s claim was completed. As the Estate was regarded as being of modest value it was swiftly brought before the court for settlement discussions.
Whilst our client was able to demonstrate she was an eligible person and that she had financial needs, in order to succeed in a claim she also needed to demonstrate that the circumstances of her relationship with her Aunt were such that her Aunt should have considered making provision for her at the time of writing her Will. If our client failed in proving this aspect her Family Provision Claim would be unsuccessful. GMP Contesting Will Lawyers are well rehearsed and experienced in this area of law and were able to successfully demonstrate that although our client was only a niece of the deceased, rather than a child, she relied on the deceased for financial support and the deceased should have made provision for our client in her will. We were able to successfully negotiate a settlement for our client whereby she received a settlement in excess of $50,000.
Our client was ecstatic with the result in circumstances where her claim had settled within 6 months of contacting our firm. The funds our client received from the settlement have allowed her to clear her debts and put funds aside for her future needs.
If you have been left out of a will, please do not hesitate to contact our will dispute lawyers for a free consultation on 1800 004 878.
