John David Mansour & Anne Khoury, Executors of the Estate of Anthony Hanna Mansour v Joseph Mansour (No. 2) [2013] NSWSC 1278

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: John David Mansour & Anne Khoury, Executors of the Estate of Anthony Hanna Mansour v Joseph Mansour (No. 2) [2013] NSWSC 1278 Hearing dates: 9 September 2013 Decision date: 09 September 2013 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Davies J Decision: 1. The defence of 6 September 2013 is struck out. 2. The Plaintiff is given leave to apply for default judgment and to obtain a writ of possession to enforce the judgment of the Court. Such writ of possession is not to be executed before Monday, 18 November 2013. Catchwords: REAL PROPERTY - possession sought by Trustees of deceased estate - second defence filed by occupier - matters raised relate to concerns with administration of estate - no defence to claim for possession - defence struck out - plaintiffs entitled to judgment Category: Interlocutory applications Parties: John David Mansour & Anne Khoury, Executors of the Estate of Anthony Hanna Mansour (Plaintiffs) Joseph Mansour (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: D Allen (Plaintiff) In person (Defendant) Solicitors: Dib Lawyers (Plaintiff) In person (Defendant) File Number(s): 2013/188590

Judgment 1The background to these proceedings was set out in my judgment of 30 August 2013. On that occasion, I struck out the first defence which had been filed by the Defendant, but I gave him further time to file another defence, if he had a defence to the proceedings. 2On 6 September 2013, a further defence was filed which reads as follows: Misconduct: 1. The Trustees of my father's estate have refused since 1988 to release my trust account. 2. They have blatantly told me they took it all and I have tried to get them to release my paperwork as well as my funds. They have misappropriated the trust account as well as telling the trust solicitor not to disclose to me. I own one quarter of this estate, but have been denied any access since my uncle died in around 1995. The two Trustees misled probate office as well as me and choose to refuse access to this trust. 3As with the first defence, the concerns that the Defendant have appear to be related to accounting issues and to the manner in which the Trustees have conducted themselves in the administration of the deceased's estate. 4Nothing that is contained in this defence, or that Mr Mansour has told me about, provides any defence to a claim for possession by Trustees who, on the face of it, have been properly appointed as Trustees of the deceased's estate. 5The defence of 6 September 2013 is therefore struck out. 6I am satisfied that Mr Mansour does not have any defence to the present claim for possession. In those circumstances, the Plaintiffs are entitled to move for default judgment. 7The Plaintiff is given leave to apply for default judgment and to obtain a writ of possession to enforce the judgment of the Court. Such writ of possession is not to be executed before Monday, 18 November 2013.