Disputed Wills Lawyers Sydney Craddock Murray Neumann

If you were left out of the Will or not properly provided for you may have a claim under the Family Provisions Act 1982 (FPA).

To make an FPA claim you need to be an eligible person. Eligible persons are:-

• a spouse including a de facto spouse and a person living in a domestic relationship with the deceased at the date of death. That relationship can be a same sex relationship
• a child of the deceased
• a former spouse of the deceased
• a dependant person

A dependant person is a person wholly or partially dependant upon the deceased who is a grand-child of the deceased or is or was a member of the household of which the deceased was a member. This category may include persons related or unrelated to the deceased including foster children and persons in a same sex relationship.

In order for a Court to change a Will, it carries out a two stage process:

1. has the eligible person been left without adequate provision for his or her proper maintenance, education and advancement in life.
2. if the answer is yes what provision if any should be made out of the Estate.

This is a complex area of law whether you are an applicant seeking provision out of the Estate or the Executor dealing with a claim.

The Solicitors in Craddock Murray Neumann's (CMN's) Wills & Estates Dispute Department have extensive experience in Wills, Probate and Administration matters.

Dominic Wilson heads the Wills & Estates Dispute CMN. He has over 20 years experience.

Your first conference is free of charge. Dominic will take your detailed instructions and advise you about your case and its prospects.

We will discuss with you this firm's fees and the basis upon which CMN will act in your matter.

You will find Dominic easy to talk to and expert in this field of law. If you do not have a case he will tell you. If you do have a case Dominic will tell you in plain English what the relevant issues are and what needs to be done to get you the best result possible.

Contact Craddock Murray Neumann lawyers in Sydney for friendly professional legal advice on disputed wills.

Would you like more information on Disputing Wills?

Read these articles from Craddock Murray Neumann on disputing wills & estates:

Can You Disinherit Your Children?
Is it is possible to disinherit your children? Some will makers believe it is or should be.
Practice Areas: Disputed Estates / Wills, Wills & Estates

FAMILY PROVISION ACT CLAIMS – Able bodied adult children and Prevailing Community Standards
A recent decision in the New South Wales Court of Appeal analysed what is ‘proper maintenance education and advancement in life’ for able bodied adult children – SMILEK V PUBLIC TRUSTEE [2008] NSWCA 190.

Who Can Inspect the Will of a Deceased Person?
The Succession Act 2006 was amended in March 2008. It deals with the Wills section of the existing Wills Probate and Administration Act 1898 and is the first stage of a reform in New South Wales called the “Uniform Succession Laws Project”. 

Can you prevent a Family Provisions Act claim by careful will drafting?
The Family Provision Act (1982)(FPA) restricts that freedom to make a will by allowing classes of people, defined in the FPA as “eligible persons”, to make a claim if those persons consider they have been left with inadequate provision for their proper maintenance, education and advancement in life.

Family Provision Act Claims – Prescribed Transactions and Notional Estate
The Family Provision Act (1982)(FPA) allows the court to designate property as “notional estate” and make Orders with respect to notional estate in order to satisfy an order for provision in claims by an eligible person.

Disputed Wills
If you were left out of the Will or not properly provided for you may have a claim under the Family Provisions Act 1982 (FPA).

Disputed Estates
When a person dies there are two ways their estate can be distributed - either pursuant to a will, or where there is no will, according to what are called the rules of intestacy.