Our client’s father passed away leaving her only $20,000, and the rest of his estate to the executor of his will. Our client wished to contest the validity of her father’s will on the basis that he was under somebody else’s influence, and he was suffering from dementia, when he executed his will.
Furthermore, our client disputed the allegations that her father was in a de facto relationship with the executor of his will at the time of his death. Our client believed that the executor was a close friend of her father’s but they were not in a de facto relationship. Our client contacted the experienced contesting a will teams at GMP because she felt that her father’s will did not represent his true wishes. GMP Contesting a Will Lawyers worked hard for our client and enabled her to achieve a major settlement in 9 months.
Our client had a pleasant relationship with her father as she was growing up. However, our client moved interstate in the early 1990’s and was unable to see her father as often as she would have liked from this point onwards. Our client maintained telephone contact with her father, but she was of limited means. This made it difficult for her to maintain face to face contact with her father.
At the time that our client contacted the contesting wills team at GMP she was facing significant financial difficulties. Our client and her husband owned a home in a rural location, and some other nominal assets. However, our client’s husband had a disability, which prevented him from working. Both our client and her husband lived off pensions.
Our client instructed us to negotiate with the solicitors for the Estate and to try and settle the matter without commencing litigation. Garbis Kolokossian, the solicitor with carriage of this matter, maintained open lines of communication with the Estate solicitors. Nine months after we received our client’s instructions, the Estate Solicitors made an offer of settlement for $100,000. Our client instructed us to accept this offer as this represented a substantial portion of the Estate assets.
Our client was very happy with the amount that she received by way of settlement. Our client was also very grateful for the compassion which she received from Garbis from start to finish.
If you, or somebody you know, is considering contesting a will, contact the experienced contesting wills lawyers at GMP.