Looking for examples of wills that have been contested? Great you have come to the right place.
Depending on the State you are in, different categories of people can contest a will. In Queensland, three types of people can contest a will if they have been left out of the will or they believe that adequate provision hasn’t been provided for them in the will via a Family Provision Application:-
- A spouse;
- A child; and
- A dependent
When a will is contested, the court looks at the following circumstances of each party. These include but are not limited to:-
- Financial status;
- Medical issues;
- The dependents;
- Marital status and partner’s financial status;
- Age;
- Relationship with the deceased; and
- disentitling conduct.
This article will discuss some examples of wills that could be contested. However, please note that contesting a will is different from challenging the validity of a will. Challenging a will occurs for example, when you may believe that a will has been tampered with. Will tampering occurs in situations where an extra page has been added or the deceased may have been placed under undue influence when making the will.
The below examples of contesting a will are specific to Queensland. The legislation regarding contesting wills varies by states.
Examples of wills that have been contested in Queensland
Example 1 : Successful case of will contested will by a spouse
Margaret married Greg in 2018. Margaret and Greg were married for 2 years before Greg passed away. Unbeknownst to Margaret, Greg updated his will after they married and left his entire estate to his three children. Greg’s three children had significant financial wealth and all owned houses worth over 1 million dollars. In comparison, Margaret didn’t own a house and could no longer work due to her worsening arthritis and older age.
The court awarded Margaret a portion of the estate. This demonstrates that the court looked at the age, financial status and medical issues of the applicant versus the respondents and decided that the distribution of the estate was unfair.
Example 2 : Contested will by de facto spouse
John and Patricia had been together for 5 years and were living together; however, they decided not to get married. Patricia passed away due to unforeseen circumstances. Patricia had failed to update her will and her whole estate was to go to her one son. John had resided with Patricia in her house and has an autoimmune disease so he can no longer work. John only has $5,000 in his bank account and didn’t own a house.
In comparison, Patricia’s son is a Medical Engineer and so is his wife. Patricia’s son’s is well off and has no desire to have children.
The court decided to award John a significant portion of the estate. The court looked at Patricia and John’s relationship, John’s financial wealth and his health issues. Patricia’s son already had a large estate with his wife.
Example 3 Contested will by estranged son
Tom was the father of four children. Tom was quite close to three of his children but had been estranged from the youngest, Brad, for over 10 years.
Tom left 3% of his estate to Brad and the residue of the estate was to be divided equally between his other three children. When Tom passed away, Brad felt that adequate provision was not provided for him in the will and decided to make a family provision claim.
The court looked at Brad’s financial wealth versus that of his siblings. Tom had been living in community housing and only had a casual job. Brad’s siblings all owned houses and were living comfortably with full time jobs. Brad also had anxiety and mental health issues. Tom and his father had a falling out due to a disagreement about Brad’s future prospects; however, Brad and his father had a close relationship when he was growing up.
While Brad’s estrangement was taken in account, the court still awarded Brad a portion of the estate and reduced the provision for the three other children accordingly.
Example 4 Disputed will due to significant contribution of assets
Samantha passed away leaving behind four adult children. Samantha stated in her will that her whole estate was to be divided equally between her four children. Samantha’s daughter, Amanda, contested the will as she had purchased her mother’s house for her four years prior to her mother passing away.
The court awarded Amanda a larger portion of the estate and reduced the other three children’s portions. This example reveals that if a person has contributed to the deceased’s estate then that person may have a greater claim.
Example 5: Example of contested wills from a dependent
Gregory, a widower, passed away at age 50 leaving his estate to his only adult child. However, Gregory had been looking after his brother’s 25-year-old disabled son, Edward, for the past 2 years as his brother had unfortunately passed away. Gregory provided financially for Edward; however, Edward was left out of the will.
The court award Edward a portion of the estate as he was deemed to be Gregory’s dependent and relied on him financially. These are just some examples of where wills can be contested.
Unsuccessful cases of contesting a will
In Queensland, grandchildren are not a category of a person who has the ability to contest a will. Therefore, in QLD a claim from a grandchild would not succeed unless they are also a dependant. In some states in Australia, grandchildren are an eligible category.
Aside from not being an eligible category, people are also unsuccessful if they have substantial means for providing for themselves and the estate is small.
****
If you are a spouse, child or dependent and you have been left out of a will or you believe that you have not been provided with adequate provision contact Will and Estate Lawyers Australia on (07) 3073 2405 for a free consultation.
