CASE: Wallis v Rudek [2020] NSWSC 162; Wallis v Rudek (No 2) [2020] NSWSC 215 Yuri & Olga Wallis were in financial crisis. They were about to lose their house in Pennant Hills, Sydney. The property was worth $950,000 but they owed $840,000 to the bank and they were unable to pay the mortgage. They asked their daughter Suzanne to buy them out on the agreement that Suzanne and her family would live in the upstairs dwelling and they would live in the downstairs dwelling. Suzanne...

CASE: Fiorenza v Fiorenza [2024] NSWSC 549 This case involves a dispute between Irene Fiorenza and her son Matthew Fiorenza over ownership of the property at 69 Amherst Street, Cammeray. Irene had inherited the property from her late mother in 2016 and had let her son Matthew and his family live there rent-free. In 2018, she transferred a 10% interest in the property to Matthew. In 2023, Irene asked Matthew to either begin paying rent or to leave the property. Instead, Matthew claimed...

CASE: Rydzewski v Rydzewski [2024] NSWSC 802 Maria Rydzewski had 4 children: Kevin, Barbara, Danuta and Stan. In July 2016, Danuta died and Maria (who was 91 years old at the time) was deeply affected by her daughter's death. There became a rift in the family due to a dispute as to whether Stan had caused his mother to miss Danuta's funeral. A year later, Maria transfers two properties to her daughter-in-law Jenny and one property to her granddaughter Krystina. The reason for the...

CASE: Coss v Norman (No 2) [2021] NSWSC 1490 WARNING: disturbing content; suicide David Henry Norman and Rodney James Coss ("James") had been in a relationship from 2012. They had separated in May 2019, 4 months before David’s death. In the 4 months before his death, David had made 4 Wills. The last Will left most of most of his estate to David's sister Fiona, but also left a gift worth about $200,000 to James. After David's death, James applied for further provision from the estate,...

CASE: Petrovski v Nasev; the estate of Janakievska [2011] NSWSC 1275 Vasilka Janakievska, also known as Vasa Janakievska, died on 29 May 2009 at the age of 87 years. During her life she made two Wills – one in April 1999 and another in December 2004. For many years leading up to the execution of the 2004 Will, Vasilka was harassed and threatened by her brother-in-law Alex Nasev. He was demanding that she leave her Erskineville house to him. In 2004 Alex took Vasilka to see his...

CASE: Jenny Yang v FCS Business Services Pty Ltd [2020] FWC 4560 Can you make an unfair dismissal case when the employee handed in their signed resignation letter? You can if the person resigned due to the conduct of the employer. Jenny Yang was accused of spreading rumours at the office Christmas party. In an odd situation, all the staff were invited to a meeting to vote on whether they had heard Jenny spreading rumours. Jenny denied spreading the rumours but was not believed. She...

What is a de facto relationship? And can you be in a de facto relationship without even knowing? CASE: PY v CY [2005] QCA 247 In 1997, PY and her son were living with CY in his house as a family unit. PY moved to the Sunshine Coast to look after her elderly parents, but CY planned to join her there as soon as he had sold his business. The relationship eventually broke down and PY applied for a property settlement. CY argued that there could be no family law property settlement because...

Regina v Phillip Raymond Parkes [2006] NSWSC 331 WARNING: Disturbing content In 2005, Grace Parkes was 84 years old and required full-time care. Of her three children, it was decided that her son Phillip would quit his job to care for her. Only Phillip didn't want to become a full-time carer. On the day before he was expected to resign from his job, Grace was murdered in her home. Phillip very quickly became the prime suspect and confessed to killing his mother.

Bradley v Irvine; Irvine v Irvine [2024] NSWSC 727 Maxwell Charles James Irvine passed away on 3 May 2021. His last Will allowed his de facto partner of 35 years (Dawn) to reside in the family home for the rest of her life. He left the residue of his estate to his sons Peter and Michael. He left nothing to his 3 stepdaughters (Cynthia, Karen and Glennis). Maxwell had been estranged from his stepdaughters for over 20 years, since they accused him of sexual abuse. Following a criminal...

CASE: Irvine v Irvine [2008] NSWSC 592 In the middle of his ongoing legal battle with his sister Elizabeth over their late father's estate, Maxwell Irvine took some time to reconnect with his aunt Rosa. Rosa was a 90 year old widow living alone in Orange and her only real asset of value was her house. Within a year, Maxwell had convinced his aunt that Elizabeth had abandoned her and that Rosa needed to appoint him as her attorney and to leave her house to him and his two sons in her Will....

CASE: Dowling v Irvine [2005] NSWSC 531 When Verdun Irvine died in 1992, he left behind a large farming property in Toogong NSW known as Lowery. Verdun's wife Enid was granted the right to live on the farm for the rest of her life. She did so, with her son Maxwell, and they continued the farming operations together. When Enid died in 2002, the farm was supposed to be sold and the proceeds divided between Verdun's three children Maxwell, Elizabeth and Robert. But that couldn't happen...

CASE: Anaya & Anaya [2019] FCCA 1048 After 46 years of marriage, Mr & Mrs Anaya decided to call it quits. They divorced when they were both in their 80s. What caused the separation may be considered to be a simple financial transaction or the straw that broke the camel's back. There was a lot to consider when deciding how to divide the matrimonial assets, including: Whether to include a significant inheritance the wife had received earlier in the relationship; What weight...

CASE: McFarlane v McFarlane [2021] VSC 197 In 2015, Judith McFarlane signed over her house to her son Mark McFarlane in exchange for "natural love and affection". The very next year, Judith moved into aged care and had no money to pay for her nursing home accommodation or care fees. Transferring the house to Mark not only took away her main asset, but also caused her to lose her pension. In 2018, the State Trustees acting for Judith took Mark to Court to try to get her house back. Not...

CASE: Estate El Chami; Habib v El Chami [2016] NSWSC 1208 For most of Elias El Chami's life he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and was institutionalised several times. His brother Salim had supported him for much of his life, but in the last 10 years they had no contact due to Elias' irrational behaviour. When Elias was 92 years old he made his final Will leaving his entire estate to his friend Mr Habib. He had only known Habib for several months, but Elias stated he did not want to...

CASE: The State of Tasmania v Jassy Anglin and Michael Anglin (13 April 2015); Janet Lois Mackozdi (2018) TASCD 274 WARNING: Disturbing content In the middle of winter, on 23 July 2010, Janet Lois Mackozdi was left to spend the night in an uninsulated shipping container. At the time, she was 77 years old and weighed only 40kg, she was frail and could not walk, she had dementia and had diminished mental capacity, she had flu like symptoms and was hallucinating. Overnight, the temperature in...

CASE: Estate of Shirley Gardner Bernengo v Leaney [2019] NSWSC 1324 Shirley Gardner Benengo died on 19 June 2017 without a Will, leaving an estate worth more than $3.5 million and a legal battle to see who would claim it. There was no doubt that the person who had been closest to her was Juan Jose Bernengo, also known as Marco. Marco had been Shirley's son-in-law for almost 20 years, up until the death of her daughter (his wife) Gaye-Marie in 2007. But the question was - had Marco been...

WARNING: Disturbing content; discussion of suicide. CASE: Re Estate of Carrigan [2018] QSC 206 In 2017 a husband died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Just before his death, he had left a voice message on his friend's phone stating that he wanted his life insurance to be paid to his children ($3 million each) and the rest of his estate to his wife. He then made a voice recording on a mini tape recorder stating the same thing. Did either voice recording qualify to be an informal...

CASE: The Public Trustee of Queensland v The Public Trustee of Queensland & Ors [2014] QSC 47 WARNING: Disturbing content of suicide and death. Francis Ward, who went by the name Frank, died in June 2009 as a result of a drug overdose. He left an estate worth about $140,000. Two years before his death, Frank had made a homemade Will which appointed his friend Merin Nielsen as his executor and left his estate to Merin. In 2012, Merin was convicted of having assisted Frank to commit...

CASE: Gill v Garrett [2020] NSWSC 795; Gill v Garrett (No 2) [2020] NSWSC 1473 Dr Bill Garrett was a brilliant medical scientist, who in the 1960s was one of the small team of Australians who developed ultrasound for monitoring pregnancies. In 1996 an unlikely friendship formed between the good doctor and a man 30 years his junior, Jason Gill. They met at a pub in Paddington where Jason was the life of the party. He invited Dr Garrett to join his trivia team and they would frequently meet...

What happens when there are co-owners to land, one owner wants to sell and the other doesn't? A co-owner can apply for an order under section 66G of the Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW) in which trustees are appointed to take charge of the property and sell it. In this episode we look at some examples. Van Oosterum v Van Oosterum [2011] NSWSC 663 Farming property owned 50% by Edward and 50% by his son Glenn, daughter Leonie and son-in-law Matthew. After a family breakdown the children...

CASE: Alan John Hyland as executor of the estate of the late John Walter Popham Luscombe v Healy [2013] NSWSC 1513 Herbert Walter Luscombe died in January 2009 at the age of 98. He left an estate worth $3.4 million that he had intended to leave to his closest relative, his nephew John Luscombe. It was a surprise to everyone when Laura Healy came forward to claim that she and Herbert had been friends for 17 years and had been lovers. She even had Herbert's last Will signed by him on 28...

CASE: Able Australia Services v Yammas [2010] VSC 237 Beryl Rose Simmons (‘the deceased’) died on 19 February 2007. She was 96 years old. About a year earlier, on 23 March 2006, she had signed her last Will. The last Will made some gifts to her nephew David, three grand-nieces and two charities. It left the residue of her estate (worth about $400,000) to her friend John Yammas. David was suspicious about the Will. Able Australia Services (formerly the Deafblind Association) had been the...

CASE: Adams v R [2019] NSWCCA 295 Edna Pearson was 77 years old and suffering from vascular dementia when she met 34-year-old Victoria Adams. Victoria quickly became Edna's cleaner. She and her family inserted themselves into Edna’s life, providing assistance until Edna was completely dependent upon them. But theirs was not a fortuitous and altruistic friendship. Victoria had identified Edna as elderly, incapacitated person of significant means. She established and maintained a...

Frank v Angell [2024] NSWSC 158 Max Frederick Willis had a keen interest in the development of the Solomon Islands and in providing opportunities for people from the Solomon Islands to come to Australia to obtain tertiary qualifications. From 2015 until his death in 2021, Sharon Frank and her family lived in Max's house while she studied a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Arts at Western Sydney University. As well as free accommodation, Max loaned Sharon and her family significant funds...