By Mary-Ann de Mestre -
Snapshot
- Recent legal developments in the United Kingdom have simplified the remedy for undue influence claims and have influenced Australian decisions.
- In the recent case of Bosschieter v Howitt, the relationship between a granddaughter and her grandmother was not considered one of the traditionally recognised presumptive relationships of influence.
- The Court determined the presence of undue influence by examining the direct evidence of the transaction and the dynamics of the relationship between the parties involved.
Margaret Norma Howitt passed away on 24 February 2022 at the age of 93 from COVID-19. In her will, dated 2 March 2021, she made several specific gifts and allocated the substantial remaining asset of her estate – her Sydney home – equally among her four children and one grandchild, the plaintiff, Justine Bosschieter. The will also granted the plaintiff a right of first refusal to purchase the property, provided she paid 80 per cent of its market value to the four children, the main beneficiaries.
On 8 May 2023, the Court granted probate of the deceased’s estate to the defendant, David Howitt, one of Margaret Howitt’s children.
