You can contest a will if you feel the assets have been unfairly allocated, or you have unjustly been excluded from the will. In order to contest a will, you must be an ‘eligible person’. In NSW, an eligible person may include the deceased’s partner, children, grandchildren, or someone who lived with the deceased and was in a close personal relationship with them. Before proceeding to the court, the person making the claim (the claimant) and the executor of the will may enter negotiations to resolve the matter. If a settlement cannot be reached in negotiations, the matter may proceed to court. If you are an eligible person, you can file a Family Provision Claim with the Supreme Court of NSW. In NSW, applicants have 12 months from the death of the deceased to file this application.
If the matter proceeds to court, the judge will hear all relevant evidence, and then decide whether orders should be made to provide you more than what is specified in the will. There are several factors that the court may take into account when deciding whether to modify a deceased’s will. This includes the nature and quality of the relationship between the claimant and the deceased, and the means and needs of the claimant compared with the size of the estate.
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