Family Provisions Applications

Consider this:

  1. Your father has recently passed away
  2. Shortly before he dies, his new wife took him to see a lawyer to have his Will changed
  3. When he was in his later years, he mentioned to you and your siblings that he wanted you to have a portion of his assets that had been left to him by your grandmother, especially your late grandmother’s items and her house
  4. You discover that his new Will has left everything he owned to his new wife and her children from a previous relationship
  5. You and your siblings have been entirely excluded from the Will.

Do you:

  1. Sit and do nothing as that was his final wish; or
  2. Ask his wife to please give you the items that were promised to you; or
  3. Challenge the Will?

The formal terminology for challenging a Will is called making a ‘Family Provisions Application’. This application is made to the Courts under the Succession Act 1981 (Qld) and states the claim of a potential beneficiary who has either been left out of a Will or has not adequately been provided for in a Will. The Courts have the power to make provision from the deceased estate for a spouse, child or dependant that has not adequately been provided for in the deceased’s Will.

To make a family provisions application the applicant needs to be:

  • A person with ‘standing’ to make the application; and
  • Not been adequately provided for in a Will of a deceased person.

*Under the Succession Act either the spouse, child or dependant of the deceased (note that in Queensland, step and adopted children are considered children for the purpose of a Family Provision Application. Further, dependants can include parents of the deceased, persons under 18 and a parent of the deceased’s child who is under 18 all of whom are financially dependent on the deceased) are able to make applications of this nature.

If you believe that you or your child has not been adequately provided for in a Will then call our estate lawyers so that we can assist you in ensuring that either your loved ones proper wishes are carried through or you receive part of a loved one’s property to which you are rightfully entitled.