Alvarez v Matthews [2021] NSWSC 1551

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Alvarez v Matthews [2021] NSWSC 1551 Hearing dates: 25, 26 November 2021 Date of orders: 26 November 2021 Decision date: 26 November 2021 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Parker J Decision: See [90] Catchwords: SUCCESSION – family provision – notional estate – deceased's superannuation passed to children pursuant to nomination given before deceased's death – application for designation of superannuation monies as notional estate to provide liquid funds – sufficient value in the estate to make provision for applicant in due course – application untenable SUCCESSION – family provision – husband and wife – parties separate about twenty years before deceased's death – parties register wife as separated for pension purposes – parties sever joint tenancy over matrimonial home, continuing to live in separate parts of it – husband's will leaves estate including his half-share of the property to the parties' three children in unequal shares – application by wife for provision – children agree on figure for provision in wife's favour but disagree on its incidence – no settlement – wife must establish entitlement to provision – application refused Legislation Cited: Real Property Act 1900 (NSW) Succession Act 2006 (NSW), ss 59, 88 Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW), s 73 Cases Cited: Bladwell v Davis [2004] NSWCA 170 Kalmar v Kalmar [2006] NSWSC 437 Marshall v Carruthers [2002] NSWCA 47 Palmer v Dolman [2005] NSWCA 361 Re Clissold (deceased) [1970] 2 NSWR 619 Re Mercer (deceased) [1977] 1 NZLR 469 Sarant v Sarant [2020] NSWSC 1686 Steinmetz v Shannon [2019] NSWCA 114 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Angelica Mercedes Alvarez (Plaintiff) Maribel Matthews (First Defendant) Michael Angelo Alvarez (Second Defendant) Aquiles Alvarez (Third Defendant) Representation: Counsel: A Hill (Plaintiff) RD Wilson SC (First Defendant) R Colquhoun (Second and Third Defendants)