There is something about Wills that sometimes brings out the worst side of human nature. Wills have the power to divide even the closest of families.
In a recent case our client, one of four children, cared for both her mother and father until her father passed away approximately 10 years ago. Following her father’s death, she moved into her mother’s home to live with her mother and to take care of her. She effectively put her own life on hold to care for her mother.
Our client’s siblings were all financially comfortable, owning their own homes and a substantial amount of savings, whilst our client was a separated single mother with a share in a property with her former spouse with little equity, no superannuation and no substantial cash reserves of any kind.
During the 10 years that our client lived with and cared for her mother, her mother would often comment on how well all of our client’s siblings were going financially. She would tell our client that the home they were living in would be hers one day.
Despite the fact that our client’s mother had communicated those wishes to her eldest son and the Executor of her Will, the eldest son passed away before his mother died, and his mother had not updated her Will to reflect her wishes. Her Will gifted the whole of her estate equally amongst her 4 children and, following the death of her eldest son, the estate was to be gifted equally to her 3 surviving children, one of whom was our client.
We commenced family provision proceedings for our client against the estate and we were able to reach a settlement between our client and her siblings for our client to receive a 48.3% share of the net assets of her deceased mother’s estate and the balance remaining would then be divided equally between the 2 surviving siblings.
Strict time limits apply when making a Family Provision claim, so it is always best to seek early legal advice from an experienced Challenging Wills Lawyer.
Leading law firms committed to helping clients cost-effectively will have a range of fixed- priced Initial Consultations to suit most people’s needs in quickly learning what their options are.
At Brazel Moore Lawyers we have an experienced team who can answer your questions and put you on the right track.
Call Geoff Brazel now on 4324 7699 for a free confidential chat over the phone.