Opposing or contesting a grant of probate – who can?
Opposing a grant of probate, or contesting it you need to be able to show that you have a legal interest in the deceased estate.
Probate
Missing or lost original will – can a copy will be used?
Probate applications require production of the original will. But what if the original can’t be found? In certain circumstances a Court will recognise a lost will and admit a copy of it to probate.
Meaning of stepchild when contesting a will
A stepchild’s eligibility under the statutory rules for seeking provision from a step-parent’s deceased estate can be difficult.
In a Victorian case1 the executor of a deceased estate applied to the Supreme Court to have a claim for family provision dismissed.
The claim was brought by the adult daughter of the deceased’s former domestic partner, who had died some years before. She had been left out of his will, despite assurances and promises to the contrary. The deceased had left everything to his new domestic partner.
Lost or missing will – where to enquire?
Missing wills or a lost will seem to be more common than one would think. Some people store important personal documents in unusual places without informing their executor where. Here are some suggestions on next steps after a thorough search has not been successful.
Personal items or chattels in a deceased estate
Personal things can have great sentimental value, and depending what they are, maybe commercial value.
Probate litigation costs
Increasingly, it is not always automatic that costs of challenging a will for more provision will be paid out of the deceased’s estate. Courts may take into account the conduct of the litigants towards each other in regard to their efforts in resolving their differences before hearing.
A mistake found in the will – can it be fixed or rectified?
Sometimes it is not until after a will-maker dies, when their executor is applying for a grant of probate, or seeking to administer the estate, that some kind of administrative mistake is discovered in the will. For example words used in the will, or some mis-description, operate to prevent the will-maker’s intentions from being put …
A mistake found in the will – can it be fixed or rectified? Read More »
Renouncing probate – when an executor does not wish to act
There is no requirement that an executor must accept the executorship role, even if it was agreed to do so. But relinquishing executorship should be done as soon as practical if you don’t wish to act and have not dealt with the estate, (intermeddle). You can resign your appointment as executor by renouncing your right to probate of the deceased’s will, that is you renounce probate.
Signing a will, having it witnessed – who can be a witness & what is required?
The legal formalities to make a valid will require the will-maker to sign their will in the presence of at least two people, acting as formal witnesses to the event.
Signing a will in front of witnesses fulfils a protective function. Can anyone witness or attest the signing of a will? And what must they do? Read more >>
Probate and a grant of probate – what is probate?
Probate is the official process to establish or prove, whether a deceased person’s will or testamentary document is valid and intended to be their last will.
A grant of probate is the document issued by the Court of Probate after completion of an examination process. A type of grant of representation, it is an order of the Court certifying that the executor (or personal representative) named in the document is lawfully authorised to administer the estate of the deceased person. It is also official recognition that the will (which may include codicils) was proved to be valid by the Court and intended to be their last will. This article is about probate, which only applies when a will was left.
Signing and execution of a will – same thing?
Signing a document is not the same thing as having to execute it. We might talk about signing a will but technically, a will is required by law to be executed. So what does execution mean and what has to be done to execute a will for it to be legally valid?
A lost will – when the original can’t be found.
Keeping an original will safe and secure is one thing, (for more on storing a will click here), but as a practical matter, it is also important to let executors know, or family or a trusted friend, of its whereabouts.
But what if for some reason an original will cannot be located? What can be done? Does it mean the intestacy rules have to apply?
Dying intestate – when there is no will left or an invalid one
Intestate means dying without a will. But sometimes even if a person has left a will there may be a partial intestacy. This is when the will does not effectively dispose of all of their property. If that happens the identified property falls into the residue of the estate and distributed according to what the person’s will states about disposal of the residue, and if silent, then according to the statutory intestacy rules.
Issue and children in wills – say what you mean
Language can be confusing. The way that certain words are used in a will may cause difficulties in interpreting what the willmaker actually meant, but unfortunately may not come to light until they have passed away. Two such words are “children” and “issue”.