£4450 ESTATE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22198, 7 December 1946, Page 4

£4450 ESTATE

ALL LEFT TO_DAUGHTER BROTHER SEEKS SHARE WELLINGTON WILL CASE (P.A.) WELLINGTON. Dec. 6. It was a pity that no arrangement had been made between sister and brother, commented the Chief Justice. Mr. Justice O'Leary, in the Supreme Court today when application was made under the Family Protection Act, 1908, on behalf of Cyril John Smith, Wellington, builder, for a share in the estate of the late Mrs. Annie Smith, the net value of which was £4450. It was stated that the plaintiff's sister, Mrs. Carolina Huia Tonkin, had inherited all the estate, and the Chief Justice commented that he thought he might have to make some provision for the plaintiff. The plaintiff was the only son of the testatrix, who was 71 years of age when she died last March. The will, made in May, 1941, while the plaintiff was serving overseas, left' the whole of the estate to the daughter. Counsel submitted that the moral duty which the mother owed to the plaintiff had been attracted away from him, to his disadvantage, and counsel also submitted that there was a duty not to disinherit the plaintiff on unsubstantiated evidence. After the death of her mother the daughter had seemed minded to share the estate, but did not do so. Counsel asked for the court to decide for an equal share in the estate for the plaintiff.

For the defence it was submitted that there should be a scrutiny of the plaintiff’s needs, and the provision, if any, which had been made by way of assistance during the life of the testatrix. The Chief Justice adjourned the case until Tuesday and suggested that before then the parties should try to come to an agreement.