Case Studies
These two cases concerned family provision from wills
Chandler v Coulson [2015] NSWSC 172 (Supreme Court of New South Wales, Pembroke J, 9 March 2015) Blake v Griffiths [2015] VCC 258 (County Court of Victoria, Misso J, 16 March 2015) These two cases concerned family provision from wills. In both cases, charities lost bequests made to them. In Blake, a disabled son who was originally left 50% of his mother’s estate, was awarded the remainder, which had been left to three charities, the Cancer Council of Victoria, the Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria, and Diabetes (Victoria) Inc. The remainder had been depleted by another family provision claim by the deceased’s two nieces which was settled for $16,000. Costs were also awarded from the estate.
The deceased had made bequests to the charities she chose because her other son had died of brain cancer, and her disabled son suffered from both epilepsy and diabetes. However, the court was of the view that her disabled son, whose care needs were very high, was entitled to the whole of the estate minus the settlement to the two nieces. In Chandler, a de facto partner claimed provision from the deceased’s will. He had not been left anything in the will, which provided for a number of unrelated beneficiaries, and for three charities, the RSPCA, Guide Dogs Victoria, and the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria. The plaintiff was unemployed and on a disability pension. He had been residing for some years rent-free in the deceased’s New South Wales home.
His Honour held that under section 60(2) of the Succession Act 2006 (NSW), which lists a large number of factors to be taken into account by the court in awarding family provision, the plaintiff was entitled to proper and adequate provision due to the moral duty to provide, placed upon the deceased by the weight of previous case law. It was held that the plaintiff should be awarded $400,000 from an estate of $837,000 with the amount to be taken in equal shares from eight beneficiaries, including the three charities. The County Court case may be viewed at: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VCC/2015/258.html
The Supreme Court case may be viewed at: