Testamentary Freedom In A Will – Goldberg vs Landerer

Testamentary Freedom In A Will – Goldberg vs Landerer

In these proceedings the deceased, Louis Kennedy, was succeeded by his second wife and two children from his first marriage. The deceased’s Estate was valued at $5 million which included real estate, commercial property and a share in the deceased’s jewellery business.

The Will of the deceased left $50,000 to each of his two children with the balance of his Estate left to his second wife, Martha. The deceased’s Will explained that, the reason he had only left his children $50,000 each was their behaviour towards him, stating that they had treated him with nothing but contempt and had no care for him other than to, extract money from him and that they had not cared for him in his bad health. In addition, the deceased detailed the financial assistance he had already provided for his children during his lifetime.

The deceased’s children both challenged the Will on the basis that, their provision was inadequate and that the Will should be adjusted to provide for their maintenance, education or advancement in life.

At the time of the Will Challenge, the deceased’s daughter Judy was 61 years of age, working part-time as a sales assistant and suffering from some serious medical problems. Judy had been made bankrupt in 2006 and lived in rented accommodation in Bondi Junction. Judy was seeking a provision of $800,000 for a two bedroom unit in Bondi Junction and a lump sum of $400,000.

At the time of the Will Challenge the deceased’s son Rony was 57 years of age, unemployed and suffering from depression. Rony sought provision from the Estate for property between $600,000 and $800,000 and a lump sum payment of $200,000.

After considering the evidence the Court came to the conclusion that the deceased had failed to make adequate provision for his two children in his Will.

The Court decided that the appropriate provision for Judy from the Estate was $850,000 and that the appropriate provision for Rony was a life estate in a one bedroom unit with a value not exceeding $400,000.

If you need advice on Testamentary Freedom and its limits or restrictions and how to limit the possibility of a Family Provision Claim, consider Getting In Touch with one of our expert Wills & estates lawyers.