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Estranged Daughter in NSW Contests a Will of a Small Estate and Wins

This is a case that was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 2010 whereby an estranged daughter made a claim for provision out of a small estate and was ultimately successful.

The Supreme Court of New South Wales heard the case and confirmed that it involved one of two daughters being cut out of their late mother’s Will. The daughter that was cut out of the Will was estranged from her parents for almost twenty years.

The deceased left her entire estate to the other daughter (the main beneficiary of the estate) whom she describes during her life as a “loving and dutiful daughter”.

The Will dispute was commenced by the estranged daughter on her late mother’s modest estate of only $135,000.00. Notwithstanding the Courts attitude to small estates generally, the Supreme Court of New South Wales heard the case and considered the estranged daughter’s financial circumstances and found that she was in financial need.

As a result of the estranged daughter contesting the Will, the Court ordered the estate of $135,000.00 was to be divided equally between the two daughters.

Whilst the Court did make this decision in these circumstances, there is no suggestion by the Court or any experienced practitioner that a Court is required, in these types of circumstances, to equally divide estates between children. In fact there is absolutely no expectation that a parent ought to divide its estate equally amongst children.

The Court, when considering this claim, took into account all of the relevant factors that a Plaintiff must demonstrate when contesting a Will.

Whilst most firms in New South Wales do not consider it appropriate to take on cases of this nature, that is small estates, we at GMP Lawyers are prepared to assist you in contesting a Will in NSW, advising you on how to contest a Will and assisting you generally with any family provision questions that you may have.

We at GMP Contesting a Will Lawyers have run numerous small estate matters and have obtained fantastic results for our clients, similar to the results obtained for the Plaintiff in this case.

If you have questions on whether or not you are eligible to make a claim, how to contest a Will and/or you would like some general information as to the likelihood of being successful of contesting a Will, contact GMP Contesting a Will Lawyers.

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Meet the diverse and dynamic team of compensation lawyers and supporting staff that have made this all happen below. Our multi-lingual team can discuss your claims in Arabic, Assyrian, Turkish, Greek, Italian, French, Serbian, Croatian, Armenian, Mandarin, Hindi, Punjabi or Malayalam.

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