Have you been left out of a will or don’t agree with the contents of a will?
Constable Connor Wills can help
No Win No Fee No Risk
Australian Wills and Probate • Deceased Estate Disputes
Family Trust Disputes • Superannuation Death Claims
At Constable Connor for over 40 years now, we have successfully assisted our clients to resolve disputes by negotiation or win their litigation in the areas of Wills, Probate and Deceased Estates, Family Trusts and Superannuation Death Claims.
In almost all cases, we agree to act – NO WIN/ NO FEE/ NO RISK. Constable Connor operates throughout Victoria and we have a strong network of colleagues who operate interstate. You can use this website to connect through us to competent lawyers AUSTRALIA-WIDE.
Peter Connor
Peter Connor
Founding Partner
Peter Connor was admitted to practice as a solicitor on 1 March 1997 and practices in Victoria in the areas of Will disputes, Probate disputes, and Superannuation death claim disputes. His litigation practice takes him to the County Court, the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, and (occasionally) the High Court of Australia.
Peter supports the worst team in the AFL. Past tantrums have meant that he is no longer allowed to watch live football games on the TV. Every Friday, Peter is required to turn off his mobile phone in the afternoon and spend time away from the office babysitting his horrible grandchildren. His wife says it is good for his character, but we are not so sure.
Contesting a Will in Victoria
“In this area, Victorian law is different (and sometimes very different) to the law in other States. Experience counts.”
Alan Constable, circa 1987
Contesting a Will in Australia
In Australia, there are significant differences between the laws of the various States and Territories. (New paragraph). There are broadly two types of Will claims in Australia.
First, State and Territory legislation allows some relatives and close contacts of the deceased to bring claims to a share (or a greater share) of the Estate. Second are claims that the deceased was not legally or medically capable when the Will was made, or that the Will was made under duress.
Deceased Estate and Probate disputes
There are procedures in place in all jurisdictions in Australia to remove executors who are deemed unfit to perform their role or have a conflict of interest.
Disputes also commonly arise when it is claimed that the executors have not carried out the deceased’s wishes or are unreasonably delaying the collection and distribution of the deceased’s assets.
Family Trust disputes
Family Trust disputes” and the text will be: Disputes over distribution of assets and income from Family Trusts are relatively new in Australia.
The law is very uneven between the various States and Territories and is very much still developing. These disputes are at the cutting edge of the matters we handle here in Victoria where the Courts are open to finding ways to achieve fair outcomes in families.
Superannuation Death Claims
Superannuation Death claims are disputes between relatives and close friends of the deceased over who is entitled to their accumulated superannuation benefits which, after they die, are often substantially increased by associated life insurance policies.
These claims are governed by Federal law, so the same laws and Court decisions apply in all Australian States and Territories. Most of these disputes are resolved by Mediation procedures and very few make it to the Federal Court of Australia.
The Probate Process
The process of dealing with the deceased’s assets are much the same all over Australia, but the devil is in the practical detail. For example, some jurisdictions have electronic application processes and others still have paper procedures.
LITIGATION LENDING AVAILABLE
It has been notoriously difficult in the past to obtain litigation funding in these areas of Wills Litigation, Probate and Deceased Estates litigation, Family Trusts litigation and Superannuation Death Claims, particularly for claims under $1million.
There are now Australian litigation lenders who will fund claims (and particularly smaller claims).
Common Will Dispute Questions
With the population living longer these days, it is becoming commonplace for questions to be asked about wills made by elderly or infirm people.
Did the willmakers understand the extent of their property and the natural claims that relatives and significant others have to share in their property after their deaths?
Mediation
Mediations Have An Enormously High Success Rate In Will Disputes
How and when you use Mediation is more art than science.
For example, legal proceedings in Australia challenging wills on the basis of unfair treatment by the willmaker must be issued within strict time limits. The time limits vary in the various States and Territories. In Victoria, the time limit is six months from the date of the grant of probate. (The time can be extended, but only for a very good reason).
At Constable Connor, we use some of that time in appropriate cases to urge and arrange mediations between the disputing parties to take place as soon as possible and before the issue of court proceedings. A complicating factor is that, if Mediation fails, some Judges order a second Mediation after the court action commences – so doubling the price of the Mediation exercise.
If early mediation does not resolve a dispute, the court proceedings are exorbitantly expensive. In some Australian jurisdictions, the courts are supposed to make the loser pay the winner’s costs, but often the courts will order the legal costs of all the disputing parties to be paid out of the deceased’s property.
It is not so unusual for the costs of court proceedings to reduce the deceased’s property so significantly that the major beneficiaries are the lawyers. Our aim is to do everything possible at every stage to make sure that this does not happen.
Significant changes to will dispute legislation in Victoria came into law…
These changes may affect who can make a claim from 1 January 2015.
Thank You Constable Connor Wills
“Peter Connor and his team at Constable Connor took on my husband’s Wills Dispute. My husband’s strange and eccentric mother had left him completely out of her Will.
So, Peter Connor ticked the boxes for me – direct approach, knowledge of wills litigation second to none. With my significant help, Peter convinced my husband he had the right to contest the Will and Peter was completely honest and upfront throughout the whole process. Everything Peter advised would happen, happened, from Calderbank offers to the matter ending in the Mediation ordered by the Court. The Barrister he chose to represent my husband at the Mediation was amazing.
I would not hesitate in recommending anyone involved in a Wills Dispute to enlist the professional services of Constable Connor.
But people need to know that Mediation is a very stressful process. Our family is significantly better off financially, but the stress of Mediation is enormous and this Wills dispute process is not, I think, for people with frail mental health.
Kate Carter
Mon — FRI / 9am – 5pm