Man sues mother over grandfather's estate

A judge in the Supreme Court of New South Wales has been highly critical of a man who sued his mother for a share of his grandfather's estate, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Robert Wilcox's grandfather died in January 2010 and left his entire estate, worth around $5.5 million, to his daughter, with the expectation that her two sons would subsequently inherit on her death.

However, when they discovered that they were not to inherit anything directly, the two brothers sued their mother for a share of the estate. The younger brother eventually settled his claim for family provision, but 46-year-old Robert's case went to a hearing.

Justice Michael Pembroke denied Robert's claim for $1.1 million, highlighting that he had been given many opportunities in life, including an expensive education paid for by his grandfather, and expressing doubts that Robert was ''sufficiently motivated to find work''.

"It is not part of the court's function to achieve some kind of equity between the various claimants," he explained in his ruling. "The court's role is not to reward an applicant, or to distribute the deceased's estate according to notions of fairness or equity. Nor is the purpose of the jurisdiction conferred by the Act to correct the hurt feelings, or sense of wrong, felt by an applicant."

"Rather," he explained, "the court's role is of a specific type and goes no further than the making of 'adequate' provision in all the circumstances for the 'proper' maintenance, education and advancement in life of an applicant."

While he felt that Robert Wilcox had a ''highly developed and unhealthy sense of entitlement'', Justice Pembroke ruled that, in all the circumstances, Robert was entitled to some money from his grandfather's estate. He awarded him $107,000, which was to be used to clear a tax debt, and yearly payments of $40,000 for seven years from 2016.

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