Edwards v Edwards [2003] NSWSC 409

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Edwards v Edwards [2003] NSWSC 409 HEARING DATE(S) : Tuesday, 15 April 2003 JUDGMENT DATE : 16 May 2003 JURISDICTION: Equity Division JUDGMENT OF : Master McLaughlin DECISION : (1). I order that, in lieu of the benefit to which the Plaintiff is entitled upon the intestacy of the late Dennis Robert Edwards ("the Deceased"), the Plaintiff receive the entirety of the estate of the Deceased absolutely; (2). I order that the costs of the Plaintiff on the party and party basis and the costs of the Defendant on the indemnity basis be paid out of the estate of the Deceased; (3). The exhibits may be returned.

CATCHWORDS : Succession - Family Provision - Intestacy - Claim by infant son (aged sixteen) - Financial and material circumstances of Plaintiff - Plaintiff suffers from muscular dystrophy - Special needs of Plaintiff - No other person entitled upon intestacy advances a competing claim to that of Plaintiff. LEGISLATION CITED : Family Provision Act 1982 Wills, Probate and Administration Act 1898 PARTIES : Mitchell Robert Edwards (Plaintiff) Paul Robert Edwards (Defendant) FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 3419/01 COUNSEL : M. Gorrick (Plaintiff) J. Kildea (Defendant) SOLICITORS : Wilkinson Throsby & Edwards, Solicitors (Plaintiff) Thompson Norrie, Solicitors (Defendant)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES EQUITY DIVISION

MASTER McLAUGHLIN

Friday, 16 May 2003

3419 of 2001 MITCHELL ROBERT EDWARDS -v- PAUL ROBERT EDWARDS JUDGMENT 1 MASTER: These are proceedings under the Family Provision Act 1982. 2 By summons filed on 6 July 2001 the Plaintiff, Mitchell Robert Edwards, claims an order for provision for his maintenance, education and advancement in life out of the estate and/or notional estate of his late father, Dennis Robert Edwards (to whom I shall refer as "the Deceased"). 3 The Deceased died intestate on 26 January 2000. Letters of Administration of his intestate estate were granted on 26 November 2001 to Paul Robert Edwards, who is the Defendant to the present proceedings. (Earlier, on 2 May 2000 an order had been made in the nature of a limited grant of administration, to enable Mr Paul Edwards to carry on the business of water tank business owner which had been conducted by the Deceased at the time of his death.) 4 The inventory of property discloses that the Deceased at the time of his death had the following assets: Real property at 191 Old North Road, Farley near Lochinvar