Lawrence v Lawlor [2001] NSWSC 442

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Lawrence v Lawlor [2001] NSWSC 442 CURRENT JURISDICTION: Equity Division FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 3371/2000 HEARING DATE(S) : 23, 24 May 2001 JUDGMENT DATE : 11 September 2001

PARTIES : Antoinette Lawrence v Robin Kay Lawlor JUDGMENT OF : Master Macready at 1

COUNSEL : B. Townsend for plaintiff P. Blackburn-Hart for defendant SOLICITORS : Gordon & Johnstone for plaintiff Murphy & Moloney for defendant CATCHWORDS : Family Provision. Application by a daughter. Majority of estate left to one child. Order for a legacy in favour of plaintiff. No matter of principle. DECISION : Paragraph 33

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1 MASTER: This is an application under the Family Provision Act in respect of the estate of the late James Arthur Lawlor who died on 29 January 1999 aged 89 years. He was survived by his four daughters. One daughter is the plaintiff and another daughter is the defendant. No claim is made by the other two daughters as they do not wish to make a claim. 2 The deceased left a will made on 10 November 1997 under which the defendant was appointed executor. Under that will eight grandchildren and a niece were each given a legacy of $2,000. The defendant received the furniture and the residence which was then occupied by her and the deceased being units 7 and 8 at 456 Edgecliff Road, Edgecliff. The residue was divided equally between the four children of the deceased. 3 The estate at the date of date of death included the following:-

(a) Unit at 7 & 8 - 456 Edgecliff Road, Edgecliff. There is a dispute about the valuation of that unit which is capable of being separated into two units. I will come back to this later. (b) There was also furniture estimated at $5,000. (c) Cash of $169,818.