Brown v Hill [2012] NSWSC 464

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Brown v Hill [2012] NSWSC 464 Hearing dates: 18 April - 19 April 2012 Decision date: 09 May 2012 Jurisdiction: Equity Division Before: Stevenson J Decision: The document of 5 November 2009 be admitted to probate as the deceased's last will; provision be made for the deceased's daughter Catchwords: SUCCESSION - informal will - s 8 of the Succession Act 2006 - will written out on standard will form - whether deceased intended document to operate as her will - whether deceased died intestate - whether defendant was de facto spouse - family provision and maintenance - application by child for provision from mother's estate pursuant to s 59 of the Succession Act 2006 - whether inadequate provision made for plaintiff and, if so, what provision ought to be made Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995 Family Provision Act 1982 Probate and Administration Act 1898 Property (Relationships) Act 1984 Succession Act 2006 Cases Cited: Andrew v Andrew [2011] NSWSC 115 Bladwell v Davies [2004] NSWCA 170 Cooper v Dungan (1976) 50 ALJR 539 Crisp v Burns Philp Trustee Co Limited, NSWSC, 18 December 1979, unreported Cropley v Cropley [2002] NSWSC 349; (2002) 11 BPR 20,171 Hatsatouris v Hatsatouis [2001] NSWCA 408 Hulme v Graham [2010] NSWSC 1281 Laidlaw v Kellie; Laidlaw (bht NSW Trustee & Guardian) v Rusiti [2011] NSWSC 740 Lajcarova v Todorov [2011] NSWSC 522 National Australia Trustees Ltd v Fazey [2011] NSWSC 559 Singer v Berghouse (No 2) (1994) 181 CLR 201 Taylor v Farrugia [2009] NSWSC 801 Texts Cited: Haines, Construction of Wills in Australia, (2007) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Christine Carolyne Brown (plaintiff) William Graham Hill (defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr J E Armfield (defendant) Solicitors: KP Lawyers and Barristers (plaintiff) Aubrey Brown Partners (defendant) File Number(s): SC 2010/286653 and SC 2010/421014