CONTESTED ESTATES

We can assist you when there is a dispute over the will or the estate including cases involving Family Provision Claims, testamentary capacity, issues involving who should have authority to administer the estate, whether a document or recording constitutes a will, the interpretation or construction of a will, executors breaching their duties, and commission for the work involved in administering the estate.

Contested Applications for Probate or Letters of Administration

We can assist you when there is a dispute I relation to the application for probate or letters of administration including disputes about:

Who should have the authority to administer the estate;
Whether any document or recording constitutes a will; and
Which of a number of documents or recordings constitutes the deceased’s last will.

Applications for a Court-made Will for a minor or for a person who lacks testamentary capacity

If a person is a minor or lacks capacity to make a will and the distribution of their estate pursuant to their last valid will or pursuant to the laws of intestacy (where there is no valid will) would not reflect what is likely to be their wishes, then an application can be made to the Supreme Court of New South Wales to make a Will, or a new Will, for them. We can assist you with such an application. In fact, Diamond Conway ran the first successful application for a will to be made for a person who lacked capacity to make a new will.

Family Provision Claims

Certain people are eligible to make a claim to the Court for provision from an estate if:

the deceased has made inadequate provision for them or no provision for them at all; and
the claim is brought within the relevant time limit or is otherwise permitted by the Court.

We can assist you with all aspects of making or defending such a claim including assisting you to negotiate an agreement to end the dispute, where possible, at mediation.

Other Estate Litigation

We can also assist you with all other types of estate litigation including making or defending claims:

That the deceased:
– Did not know or approve of the contents of the Will;
– Did not have the requisite mental capacity to make a Will; or
– Was subject to fraud or undue influence when making the Will;
That an executor, administrator or trustee has breached their fiduciary duties to a beneficiary of an estate;
Relating to the construction/interpretation and rectification of a Will; and
For commission for the work involved in administering the estate.