THE HUNTER ESTATE

Wairarapa Daily Times, 29 June 1933, Page 5

THE HUNTER ESTATE

LADY HUNTER’S APPEAL. WELLINGTON, We dne sday. Considerable interest attaches to an appeal which commenced in the Court of Appeal this afternoon. The appellant is Edith May Hunter, widow of Sir George Hunter, and respondents are Cyril Paul Hunter, executor of Sir G. Hunter’s estate, and the beneficiaries under his will.

In June, 1933, Mr Justice Blair heard an application brought by Lady Hunter for an order under the Family Protection Act for further provision out of the estate for herself and for further provision iu J respect of her infant child, Elizabeth'‘'Hunter. The application was based largely on the fact that, although she had been left the whole income of the .testator’s large estate, yet, owing to the depression, the estate was not income-producing, and she had received nothing from the estate since her 'husband’s death. In view of this fact, Mr Justice Blair made an order for the payment to the widow from capital of a sum of £4OO per annum, to accrue from the date of the testator’s death. Lady Hunter later made an application to the same judge for an increase in this allowance, alleging that her financial position had become worse during the intervening months. His Honour, however, dismissed the application, cv, ; , A.y i This judgment is tlie subject of today’s appeal. As an application under the Family Protection Act raises the rights of all dependents of a testator, the right of the daughter, Elizabeth May Hunter, to an order for further provision, is also being considered by the Appeal Court. Lady Hunter is conducting her appeal in person. This would appear to be the. first occasion in New Zealand on which a woman litigant lias appeared in person before the Court of Appeal. She asked for an allowance of £IOOO a year, and for a refund to her of the sum of £llOO, which had been charged against her as rental of the household property of the estate, which she. had been occupying. She said she was quite prepared to secure to the beneficiaries, in the event of her death, the amount allowed her by handing ■over policies of insurance to the value of £4OOO. At the present time, she bad only a few shillings a week for food after paying rent. The Court adjourned. —(P.A.) APPEAL DISMISSED. WELLINGTON, This Day. ; The Appeal Court dismissed Lady Hunter’s appeal.—(J?.A.) , r