The Facts
Probate document states home address of each executor
A woman died in July 2022, aged 95 years. She left behind three sons and a will which divided her estate equally between them. Two of the sons were named as executors of the estate.
In December 2022, the court granted probate of the woman's will to the two executor brothers.
As is customary, the front sheet of the probate document named the two executors and stated the complete residential address of each of them.
Executor seeks suppression order for residential address
Lawyers for the first executor wrote to the Probate Registrar, asking that the probate be reissued and the address of that executor changed to the other executor's address.
As a change of this nature requires a court order, the executors took the matter to the Supreme Court of NSW, requesting that the court make orders suppressing the address of the first executor indefinitely.
Executor claims intense abuse, intimidation and threats
The executor who wanted his address suppressed said that he feared for his safety because he had received "intense abuse, intimidation and threats" from his non-executor brother.
He also claimed he was forced to cease contact with his mother during her lifetime, because his brother's abuse and intimidation was "on the verge of becoming physically violent".
By the time of the court hearing, but before the expiry of the 12-month limitation period following the mother's death, lawyers for the non-executor brother had written to the two executors to notify them that the brother intended to make a claim for a family provision order out of their mother's estate.
It was up to the court to determine whether or not to grant the first executor's request for a suppression order for his home address.
CASE AThe case for the executor |
CASE BThe case for the probate jurisdiction |
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So, which case won?Cast your judgment below to find out |
Olivia Galvin
Probate law
Stacks Law Firm
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