Seeto v Seeto [2014] NSWCA 295

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Seeto v Seeto [2014] NSWCA 295 Hearing dates: On the papers Decision date: 29 August 2014 Before: Beazley P at [1]; Meagher JA at [1]; Hallen J at [1] Decision: (1) Order that the appeal be upheld in part. (2) Order that the orders made by the Supreme Court (Slattery J) on 20 September 2013 be varied as follows: (a) Order 2 varied by deleting reference to orders 5 and 7; (b) Order 3 varied by deleting all words after "deceased"; (c) Orders 4, 7, 8, and 9 deleted. (3) Order that the appeal otherwise is dismissed. (4) Order that the appellants pay the respondent's costs of and incidental to the appeal. (5) Note the following agreements between the parties: (a) That the costs due to the plaintiff (respondent) by order 5 made on 20 September 2013 are $144,000; (b) That the costs due to the respondent by order 4 above are $60,000; (c) That in consideration of the parties consenting to the making of the orders herein, the respondent releases the estate and notional estate of the deceased from any further claim by him for a family provision order pursuant to the Family Provision Act 1982; (d) That proceedings 2014/132696 are associated with these proceedings, that the parties to these proceedings consent to the orders being made in those proceedings and that the parties to those proceedings consent to the orders being made in these proceedings; (e) That the parties to these proceedings, agree to the terms of the orders being made in the associated proceedings concerning the manner in which the provision and costs amounts in each of the proceedings are to be paid. (6) Order, pursuant to s 31 of the Family Provision Act 1982, that the release by the respondent of his rights to apply for any further family provision order out of the whole or any part of the estate or notional estate of Kim Yum Bong Seeto be approved. [Note: The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 provide (Rule 36.11) that unless the Court otherwise orders, a judgment or order is taken to be entered when it is recorded in the Court's computerised court record system. Setting aside and variation of judgments or orders is dealt with by Rules 36.15, 36.16, 36.17 and 36.18. Parties should in particular note the time limit of fourteen days in Rule 36.16.] Catchwords: WILLS AND ESTATES - family provision claim - Family Provision Act 1982 (NSW), s 31 - approval of release of rights to further claim - no question of principle Legislation Cited: Family Provision Act 1982 (NSW), s 31 Succession Act 2006 (NSW), Sch 1, cl 11 Succession Amendment (Family Provision) Act 2008 (NSW), s 2(1) Texts Cited: New South Wales Government Gazette, No 38, 20 February 2009, at 1036 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Kim Yum (Raymond) Seeto (First Appellant) Wing On Investments Pty Ltd (Second Appellant) Phillip Seeto (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: L Ellison SC (Appellants) JE Robson SC, M Gorrick (Respondent) Solicitors: Macpherson + Kelly Lawyers (Sydney) Pty Ltd (Appellants) Slater & Gordon Lawyers (Respondent) File Number(s): 2013/312014 Decision under appeal Jurisdiction: 9111 Citation: Phillip Seeto v Kim Yum Bong Seeto & Anor (No 2) [2013] NSWSC 1386 Date of Decision: 2013-09-20 00:00:00 Before: Slattery J File Number(s): 2011/405719