Succession law explained
Robert Holmes à Court, a lawyer, corporate raider, and the first Australian billionaire died following a heart attack in 1990 aged 53. Following his death extensive searches were undertaken but no executed Will was found. His estate was estimated to be worth over $800 million Although Holmes à Court was described as a corporate raider …
Continue reading "Holmes à Court and the unsigned Will"
Lawrence Inlow, 46, was killed instantly when struck in the head by the rotor blade of a helicopter. As is the central issue of many of my posts he died without a Will. It is not uncommon for a person to die intestate but Inlow was the in house lawyer for a major United States insurance …
Continue reading "Estate Management – It’s not just about a Will"
The deceased married his second wife Margaret on 7 June 2000 three days before he died. They had known each other since 1994 and had lived in a domestic relationship since 1996. She applied for the grant of probate of a will made by the deceased on 27 January 1999. The Will left the whole …
If you have a Will it is revoked if you marry someone after making it unless the Will was made in contemplation of that marriage. Legislation in most jurisdictions provides that Wills made in contemplation of marriage generally or in contemplation of a particular marriage are not revoked by the marriage of the will maker. …
The revocation of a Will is simply the cancellation of a Will so that it no longer operates. A will can be revoked in a number of different ways but importantly in order to revoke a will voluntarily the testator not only must act, but also have the intention, to revoke the will. In Writing In …
Andrew Assim died suddenly on 12 March 2015 without executing a will. He was the sole director and shareholder of three proprietary companies, including Elizabeth Bay Real Estate Pty Limited. The deceased was licensed to conduct this real estate business, which managed rental properties for clients and collected rent on behalf of owners of those …
As has been discussed if you die without a Will distribution of your estate is made more difficult. An executor can begin to administer a deceased estate almost immediately but it takes time for letters of administration of an intestate estate to be granted by a Court. The situation is further compounded if a sole director …
Indigenous Australia with a diverse spread of people from rural, urban, traditional and historical communities is not a homogenous entity. Which makes it difficult to formulate a general scheme that would be suitable to apply with regard to intestacy throughout all Indigenous communities in Australia. Generally in Australia, the distribution of property on intestacy is based …
In yesterdays post I discussed the changes to the intestacy provisions regarding bona vacantia. Ian McDermott (also known as Ian Thompson) died without a Will leaving an estate, valued at about $166,000. Ian was unmarried at the time of his death, had no children of his own and his parents and only brother has predeceased …
Continue reading "Minister Waives States Right to Bona Vacantia"
Bona vacantia is the Crown’s statutory right to the property of an intestate. If the legislated order for relatives has been exhausted then the State is entitled to the estate of the intestate. In modern society the reduction in the size of the average family and the higher incidence of single child families the possibility …
Continue reading "If I die Intestate does the Government get my Estate?"