A WILL CASE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21022, 10 May 1930, Page 14

A WILL CASE.

INSUFFICIENT PROVISION FOR WIDOW. COURT GRANTS AN INCREASE. (Per United Press Association.) PALMERSTON N., May 9. When after a lifetime of thrift and hard work Mr James Trewin, of Feilding, died leaving an estatt valued at close on £19,000, the provision he made 'for his wife, who had shared all his hardships from a humble beginning in Cornwall (England), was an annuity of £260 for life and a large house and grounds in Fell ding. i). number of small bequests were made to relatives in Engalnd, including an annuity of £IOO to his sister, Eliza Trewin, but the greater part of the estate, comprising the residue, was left as a fund to provide relief for the indigent poor of the testator’s native parish of St. Stithin’s, Cornwall. In addition, a bequest of £IOOO was made to provide a- dock and a bell tower for St. Stithin’s Church, and a sum of £SOO was left to Truro Cathedral. The testator stipulated, however, that his widow, who is in her eighty-third year, should maintain the house and grounds left to her to the satisfaction of the executor' of the will (the Public Trustee). The widow, Elizabeth Trewin, to-day applied to the Supreme Court under the Family Protection Act seeking further provision. It was contended on her behalf that the annual cost of maintenance of the house and grounds was £l6B, and that her state of health was such that she was compelled to employ a personal attendant and a charwoman at an annual cost of £129. This sum, together with the cost of maintenance and grounds, it was argued, made an annual outgoing of close on £3OO a year, to meet which the widow had only an annuity of £260 left under,the will. The application was opposed by the Public Trustee, but after hearing argument, the Chief Justice (Sir Michael Myers) made an order granting the widow an increased allowance of £468 per annum during her lifetime. 1