Calokerinos, Executor of the Estate of the late George Sclavos v Yesilhat; Yesilhat v Calokerinos, Executor of the Estate of the late George Sclavos [2017] NSWSC 666

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Calokerinos, Executor of the Estate of the late George Sclavos v Yesilhat; Yesilhat v Calokerinos, Executor of the Estate of the late George Sclavos [2017] NSWSC 666 Hearing dates: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11,12, 16, 18, 19, 23 February, 7, 8, 10 March, 7, 27 April, 10 May & 1 June 2016 Date of orders: 09 June 2017 Decision date: 09 June 2017 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Slattery J Decision: (i) Deceased executed informal will of October 2012 that is already admitted to probate and he knew and approved its contents. Deceased intended informal will to embody his final testamentary intentions. Application for revocation of grant of probate to the defendant refused. (ii) A de facto relationship found not to exist between the plaintiff and the deceased. The plaintiff was not dependent upon or in a close personal relationship with the deceased. The plaintiff is not an eligible person to make a claim under Succession Act, s 57 against the deceased's estate. The plaintiff's Succession Act claim fails. (iii) Plaintiff must repay all monies the deceased advanced to him before the deceased's death, which were all loans, not gifts. Plaintiff must restore to the estate all monies he transferred from the deceased's estate to himself after the deceased's death, which were transferred without authorisation and fraudulently. Catchwords: PROBATE – informal will signed by the deceased - informal will is not compliant with Succession Act, s 6 formal requirements – informal will made ten months before the deceased's death – informal will admitted to probate - challenge to informal will – whether the informal will was fabricated by the executrix named within it and one of the beneficiaries under it – whether the informal will was the deceased's instrument – whether the informal will represented the deceased's testamentary intentions.