By Darryl Browne -
Key decisions
- Re Filomena Rodi, dec’d [2016] NSWSC 1696
- Application by Craig-Bridges; The Estate of Ella Minnie Lillian Bush; The Estate of Ella Minnie Lillian Bush v NSW Trustee & Guardian [2016] NSWSC 1611
- Re Oliver (deceased) [2016] QSC 264
- Application by Craig-Bridges [2016] NSWSC 1611.
- Kohari v NSW Trustee & Guardian [2016] NSWSC 1372
- Brant v Murray [2016] WASC 390
- Coote v Price [2016] NSWSC 1658
- Robin Michael (dec’d) [2016] SASC 164
- Soo v Soo [2016] NSWSC 1666
- Fazio v Naso [2016] WASC 385
- Estate of Grahame David Wright [2016] NSWSC 1779
- The Estate of Juliana Voros; Cooney v Cherry [2016] NSWSC 1603
- Estate of Grahame David Wright [2016] NSWSC 1779
- Re Buckingham [2016] VSC 757
Recent family provision orders for grandchildren
For those who thought that Chapple v Wilcox [2014] NSWCA 392 produced the practical end to family provision claims by grandchildren, consider Re Filomena Rodi, dec’d [2016] NSWSC 1696 (‘Rodi’) and Application by Craig-Bridges; The Estate of Ella Minnie Lillian Bush; The Estate of Ella Minnie Lillian Bush v NSW Trustee & Guardian [2016] NSWSC 1611. Rodi concerned an application by a grandson for family provision from the estate of his late grandmother with whom he’d lived for the last decade of her life, providing companionship that aided her continued occupation of her home until her demise (at [24]). The Court considered that the duration of residency placed the claimant in the position of a surrogate son or gave the flavour of a parental relationship. Following the grandmother’s death the grandson married, had a child, and separated (at [60]). The Court considered that these circumstances meant that the grandson ought to have provision from the grandmother’s estate and awarded $200,000 from an estate of about $1.2 million.
In Application by Craig-Bridges (which is also referred to below), a grandchild who had an extensive relationship with the deceased, such that ‘she was, in substance, a de facto child’ obtained provision equal to one fifth of the estate (at [156], [169]).
