Wills and Estates

Our Wills & Estates Services

• making a will
• estate planning
• applying for a Grant of Probate
• intestate estates
• applying for Letters of Administration
• Family Provisions Act claims and probate litigation generally
• acting for executors responding to a claim under the Family Provisions Act
• contesting a will
• lodging caveats
• power of attorney

If you were left out of the Will or not properly provided for you may have a claim under the Family Provisions Act 1982 (FPA).

To make an FPA claim you need to be an eligible person. Eligible persons are:-

• a spouse including a de facto spouse and a person living in a domestic relationship with the deceased at the date of death. That relationship can be a same sex relationship
• a child of the deceased
• a former spouse of the deceased
• a dependant person

A dependant person is a person wholly or partially dependent upon the deceased who is a grand-child of the deceased or is or was a member of the household of which the deceased was a member. This category may include persons related or unrelated to the deceased including foster children and persons in a same sex relationship.

In order for a Court to change a Will, it carries out a two stage process:

1. Has the eligible person been left without adequate provision for his or her proper maintenance, education and advancement in life.
2. If the answer is yes what provision if any should be made out of the Estate.

This is a complex area of law whether you are an applicant seeking provision out of the Estate or the Executor dealing with a claim.
Maatouks Law Group has extensive experience in Wills, Probate and Administration matters.

Your first conference is free of charge. We will take your detailed instructions and advise you about your case and its prospects.

We will discuss with you this firm’s fees and the basis upon which we will act in your matter.