Szabo & Associates News & Updates

When determining a contested Will, a Court has to consider many competing factors. In Cowap v Cowap, the Court had to weigh the moral obligation of a deceased husband to his wife after a long marriage compared to the obligation to make provision for his disabled and destitute adult son. The case illustrates that there are no inflexible rules in family provision claims with each case turning on its own merits with the long arm of ‘notional estate’ potentially playing a role.

One of the recognised grounds for challenging a Will is that the Will maker lacked the mental (testamentary) capacity to understand what they were doing at the time it was signed. The recent case of Croft v Sanders (2019) in the NSW Court of Appeal illustrates the relatively high bar that must be met in order to make such a challenge to a Will successfully.

It may come as a surprise but, despite possibly being one of your most valuable assets, superannuation benefits do not automatically form part of your estate. As such, the benefits may not be automatically distributed in accordance with your wishes.

More people than ever before appear to be prepared to dispute some aspect of a Will. There are many popular theories why this might be the case. One is the increased complexity of family life, such as blended families. People may marry more than once, cohabit outside marriage and, then you might add children, adopted children and stepchildren into the mix.

As an individual, you may well be familiar with the role of a power of attorney in granting authority to someone to look after your affairs if you are unable to do so. However, if you are a company director, this does not extend to acting on your behalf as a company director. Here, we look at a company power of attorney and how it works.