01 Nov Beware of cutting close relatives from your will
From Lexology 31 Jul 2015 Case Review: Burke v Burke [2015] NSWCA 195 Recently, the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales has given some firm guidance upon community values and expectations when an estranged adult son made an Inheritance Family Provision claim against his mother’s estate Mrs Beryl Burke died a widow aged 93 years. She was survived by her three adult children, Terry, Alan, who was the executor of her Will and Diana. In her Will, the deceased left a legacy of $100,000 to her grandson, Stephen and the residuary of her estate was divided equally between Alan and Diana. She made no provision for Terry with whom she had no contact for about 20 years prior to her death. In a letter prepared before her death, Mrs Burke explained that she had not included Terry in her Will to reflect the fact that he, through his own choosing, was no longer a part of her life, having become totally estranged from the entire family. Terry commenced proceedings in the Supreme Court seeking a family provision order out of Mrs Burke’s estate. It was not disputed that Terry was in financial need. The trial judge found that Mrs Burke was...
