Family provision claims
As a family member or someone in a close personal relationship with someone who has died, you may be legally entitled to benefit from their estate.
If you have been left out of a will or believe you have been insufficiently provided for, you may be entitled to make a claim from your loved one’s estate under the NSW Succession Act. This act exists to protect the rights of relations and dependants of a deceased person and to ensure that they are adequately provided for.
Stacks Collins Thompson are Hornsby lawyers with an extremely high success rate in making family provision claims for local families. We can support you with:
- Understanding your rights
- Putting together a strong claim
- Navigating the compulsory mediation process
- Representing you should your case progress to court
Letters of Administration
If your loved one has passed away without a valid will or a named executor, your grief can be compounded by additional financial and legal burdens.
Stacks Collins Thompson have decades of experience in supporting Hornsby and North Shore residents navigate this process. Let us help you with the legal side of things, so you can focus on healing and supporting your family through this difficult time.
Our expert Hornsby lawyers can assist with securing a grant of Letters of Administration from the court, to minimise delays and complications with the dispersal of assets from the estate. This includes:
- Lodging an application for a grant for Letters of Administration within the required six-month time limit
- Conducting necessary searches to prove that a will did not exist
- Obtaining a death certificate
- Completing the required paperwork and processes
- Supporting you through the next steps once the grant for Letters of Administration has been issued by the court
Rights of beneficiaries
The beneficiary of a will is any person who is listed on the will as being entitled to receive a defined portion of the deceased person’s assets or income.
If the person who has named you as a beneficiary dies, you will normally be contacted and made aware that you have been named as such. You may already know that you were listed as a beneficiary, or you may not.
Our estate planning Hornsby lawyers can help you to understand the full implications of receiving an inheritance, including:
- Your tights as a beneficiary of a will
- Tax implications, depending on the type of assets you inherit
- Your rights in disputing the will
Will disputes
Will disputes can be emotionally challenging when you are already grieving the loss of a loved one. They can also create financial strain by delaying the distribution of funds to the deceased person’s dependants.
Will disputes typically arise when someone has been left out of a will for one reason or another, or where a beneficiary feels they have been treated unfairly, or not been sufficiently provided for to support themselves financially.
Having navigated will disputes and estate planning for Hornsby and North Shore families since 1979, the wills and estates lawyers at Stacks Collins Thompson have the experience and compassion to help you resolve matters quickly and fairly.
