Logo: Public Trustee
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Disclaimer: All case studies are based on real life events but the names and some details have
been changed to protect the identity of the persons concerned.
Jayne Craig was a widow when she died. She lived by herself in a small country town and saw little of her three daughters and two sons. Jayne never got around to making a Will because she felt her estate was too small and, in any event, the children all got on well and would be able to divide her possessions among themselves.
Unfortunately, the amicable split up of Jayne's worldly goods did not proceed as she had hoped. As often happens in such cases, there were disputes because some of the children claimed that Jayne had promised them certain keepsakes while she was alive. Since there was nothing in writing to support these claims, the whole of Jayne's possessions were sold at auction and the children had to go through the extremely uncomfortable process of bidding competitively for their mother's possessions.
If Jayne had wanted her estate to be divided in a particular way, a simple professionally prepared Will could have specified these arrangements and lessened the stress, expense and delay of an auction.
Whether it seems fair or not, the law expects that you will provide for your spouse and children. Ron Johnson, a retired sheet metal worker, died unexpectedly while out fishing. He was survived by a wife and three children.
One of these children, a daughter named Sue, had moved to Queensland with her partner in search of a better life some five years before. Ron took the view that she was an ungrateful child and not worthy of his support because she had only visited twice in that time and rang very infrequently.
With his wife's knowledge and consent, Ron divided his estate equally between her and two of their children but left Sue completely out of his Will. In fact, he allowed the Will maker to believe that he only had two children.
When Sue claimed under the Inheritance (Family Provisions) Act, the Supreme Court had little hesitation in awarding her a portion of Ron's estate.
Had Ron taken the Will maker completely into his confidence, it may have been possible to lessen the likelihood of a claim succeeding.
Jack and Vera Edwards owned all their assets jointly except for the proceeds of Jack's superannuation entitlement which had been rolled over into an approved deposit fund. Jack and his accountant both assumed (wrongly) that because Vera had been the nominated beneficiary of the original super fund, she was also the nominated beneficiary of the rollover.
In fact, the proceeds of the fund were paid to Jack's estate and so Vera had to go the trouble and expense of obtaining a grant of Probate to collect the proceeds.
The point of this story is that you should always make a point of knowing your fund's rules for paying out a superannuation amount on your death and it is best to seek professional advice if you are not sure.
Andre had migrated to Australia after World War Two. He was a skilled tradesman and had always earned well. Given that he had never married and was careful with his money, he died quite a wealthy man.
Like many people who came from Europe after the war, Andre's experiences had made him suspicious of the law and the government so, although he made a Will, it was a 'home made' one. Even that would have been okay if he had just made one version and stuck with it.
As it happened, Andre's will became something of a journal of his life as he made new friends and drifted apart from others. As his allegiances and commitments changed, so did his Will, with numerous alterations. Unfortunately the changes to his Will were not made properly and it took a great deal of time and a great deal of money (taken from the estate) before the Supreme Court decided how his assets would be distributed.
Andre should have sought professional help with his Will and, if he had used the services of Public Trustee, the various changes could have been made properly and at no charge (provided that Public Trustee was named as Executor).