Estate of the Late Violet Eugenie Harrigan - Cowmey v Whibley [2012] NSWSC 291

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Estate of the Late Violet Eugenie Harrigan - Cowmey v Whibley [2012] NSWSC 291 Hearing dates: 23 March 2012 Decision date: 28 March 2012 Jurisdiction: Equity Division Before: Ward J Decision: Motion dismissed Catchwords: SUCCESSION - application for provision order under Part 3 Succession Act 2006 (NSW) - whether financial and material circumstances of persons entitled to intestate estate of a named beneficiary under deceased's will relevant under s 60 in making a provision order in favour of another named beneficiary under deceased's will - consideration of meaning of 'beneficiary' in s 60(2)(d) - EVIDENCE - applicant sought declaratory relief at preliminary stage that evidence of financial and material circumstances of persons entitled to intestate estate of a named beneficiary under deceased's will not relevant to making of a provision order in favour another named beneficiary under deceased's will - HELD - application dismissed - not appropriate to make preliminary determination on relevance of such evidence in advance of hearing - not persuaded that evidence can be dismissed as having no potential relevance Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) Family Provision Act 1982 (NSW) Succession Act 2006 (NSW) Succession Amendment (Family Provision) Act 2008 (NSW) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Cases Cited: Affleck v R (1906) 3 CLR 608 Bass v Permanent Trustee Co Ltd [1999] HCA 9 Commissioner of Stamp Duties (Qld) v Livingston [1965] AC 694 Crooks National Stores Pty Ltd v Collie (1957) 97 CLR 581 Fidelitas Shipping Co Ltd v V/O Exportchleb [1966] 1 QB 630 Field v Inglis (Unreported, NSW Supreme Court, Master McLaughlin, 8 November 1993) Field v Inglis (Unreported, NSW Supreme Court, Young J, 8 February 1994) Foley v Ellis [2008] NSWCA 288 Lajcarova & Anor v Todorov [2011] NSWSC 522 Manly Council v Malouf [2004] NSWCA 299 McKenzie v Baddeley (Unreported, NSW Court of Appeal, Priestley, Handley JJA and Hodgson AJA, 29 August 1995) Polistena v Mitton; Agnew v Mitton [2011] NSWSC 931 R v Peters (1886) 16 QBD 636 Singer v Berghouse (1994) 181 CLR 201; [1994] HCA 40 Sydney Local Health Network v QY [2011] NSWCA 412 Vigolo v Bostin [2005] HCA 11 Texts Cited: Encyclopaedic Australia Legal Dictionary G L Certoma, The Law of Succession in New South Wales (4th ed, 2010) R Meagher, D Heydon and M Leeming, Meagher Gummow and Lehane's Equity: Doctrines and Remedies (4th ed, 2002) D C Pearce and R S Geddes, Statutory Interpretation in Australia (7th ed, 2011) Category: Interlocutory applications Parties: Patricia Cowmey (Plaintiff/Applicant) Ian Whibley (as representative of the late George Whibley's estate) (Defendant/Respondent) Representation: Counsel J O'Connor (Plaintiff/Applicant) M Gorrick (Defendant/Respondent) Solicitors Walsh & Blair Lawyers (Plaintiff/Applicant) Teece Hodgson & Ward (Defendant/Respondent) File Number(s): 10/315700