Our client shared a close relationship with his grandfather throughout his childhood. It was not until later in his life that he learned his grandfather was in fact his step-grandfather and not his biological grandfather. The lack of blood tie did not impact in any way on their relationship. Our client went to reside with his grandmother and step grandfather when he was 18 and remained here for a period of about 5 years. During this time he did not pay rent and he relied on his grandparents to house him, feed him, etc.
When our client was about 28 years old his grandmother passed away. He stayed in close contact with his step grandfather after this time visiting regularly. Our client would take his children to spend time with his step grandfather on weekends whenever he was able to.
Unfortunately, in more recent years our client was not able to see and spend time with his step grandfather as much as he would have liked due to family and work commits.
When our client’s step grandfather passed away in 2014 he left an estate in Sutherland worth approximately $700,000. From this amount he made small gifts to various people which equated to $90,000, and he left the rest of his estate to his biological grandchild.
Our client contacted GMP Contesting a Will Lawyers to see if he could challenge a will or make a claim on an estate. Our will dispute team were successfully able to demonstrate that our client was an eligible person to make a claim for family provision on his late step grandfather’s estate. We prepared and produced evidence demonstrating that our client had both lived with the deceased and had been dependent upon him during his lifetime.
The matter was referred for mediation where we were able to successfully negotiate a settlement of our client’s claim on the basis that he was to receive $50,000 from his late step grandfather’s estate. This result was achieved without the need of lengthy court proceedings or extensive legal costs.
Have you been left out of a will? Do you have an enquiry about challenging a will? Contact GMP Contesting a Will Lawyers and speak to our experienced will dispute lawyers today.
