Wills

The law generally recognises a person’s right to make a Will that is unfettered by the normal constraints as to what is fair. However, this situation sometimes leads to a grossly unfair last Will and Testament which can leave valued members of the family without any benefits.

Contesting a Will in NSW & QLD is allowed by law if there are good reasons based upon a number of matters including:-

• Whether or not the Will is grossly unfair;
• Whether there are financial needs of “family members”;
• Whether there a dependants who were partially or fully financially dependant upon the deceased;
• Whether the deceased had the mental capacity to understand what he/she was doing;
• Alternatively, if a deceased did not have the mental capacity to understand what he or she was doing when drafting the Will there may be a basis to bring a claim to contest a beneficiaries share;
• Alternatively, there may be an application made that the Executor was unduly influenced by another person prior to the signing of the document and that it in fact did not reflect that persons true wishes. This is known as an undue influence claim;