“I’m not happy with a third of the estate, I want a bigger share.” Which case won?
A woman died in 2016 at the age of 73. In 1958, at the age of 15, she had had an arranged marriage in Italy to a man who was nine years her senior. The couple emigrated to Australia shortly after their marriage.
The woman felt trapped in an unhappy marriage and blamed her husband for taking her away from Italy and bringing her to Australia. Nevertheless, the couple had three children: a son born in 1961, a daughter born in 1965 and another son born in 1966.
The woman had a long-running extramarital affair which commenced in 1977 and came to the attention of her husband in 1981. Relationships within the family became acrimonious.
Can the relatives be cut out of a will and everything left to the neighbours instead? Which case won?
In 1996 an elderly aunt made a will, in which she left $100,000 to each of her sisters, and the rest of her estate to her niece.
The sisters pre-deceased the aunt, making the niece the sole beneficiary of the aunt’s estate, should she die.
The aunt also had one other niece and two nephews.
