A bitter court battle over a $3 million inheritance shows the
problems that can arise when a trust is not properly set up. The
case is still unfolding in an appeal in the West Australian Supreme
Court, but wills expert Joshua Crowther at Stacks Law Firm says
there is a lot to learn from it.
The saga began when a Perth mining billionaire discovered he had
an extra daughter - the product of a fling with his then mistress.
His will split his huge estate among the two daughters and son he
had with his wife. The son received an unknown amount, the two
sisters each received around $400 million.
Even though the billionaire was not close to his fourth
offspring, he looked after her in his will. The teenager was twenty
years younger than his three children, and lived with her mother in
rental accommodation. He set aside $3million for her in a trust
fund. When the billionaire died, the girl was 19 and inherited the
money through a trust.
