Succession Law LAW3122

WEP2:Writtenassessment

Five weeksago, JoshuaWhite wasdoingsome homemaintenance athishouse inSouth Yarra and fell off the roof and died.

Joshua White and Rina Blue had been in a de facto relationship for 3.5 years. Rina is 7 months pregnant to Joshua. Joshua was separated from his first wife, Julie White. They were not divorced but have had a property settlement. Julie and Joshua had one child togetherduring theirmarriage, Jason White (5).PriortohismarriagetoJulie, Joshua wasin a de facto relationship with Deborah Blackthatended 8 years ago. During that relationship, Joshua and Deborah had twins Megan White (26) and Michael White (26). Joshua and Deborah had a property settlement after their de facto relationship ended.

Joshua did not have a will when he died. He had recently spoken to an estate planning solicitor recommended by his financial planner but had not yet provided instructions to the solicitor to prepare his will. Joshua executed a valid binding death benefit nomination in favourof hislegalpersonalrepresentative2months ago(as recommendedandpreparedby his financial planner).

Hisassetsat thedateofhisdeathare:

• Property held in his sole name at 11 Warbeck Street, South Yarra, Victoria (Vol 4354 Folio 8908)valuedat$1.2 Thereisamortgage in thesumof$580,000 secured over that property.
• Two shares held in Jojujas Pty Ltd valued at $2, which was all of the issued shareholding inJojujasPty The companyactsasthecorporatetrusteeofthe White Family Trustand does notcarry on anyotherbusinessorown anyassetsother than as trustee. At his death, Joshua and Rina were the directors of Jojujas Pty Ltd. The White Family Trust holds assets valued at $800,000. The loan account ledgers for the trust indicate that the only liability of the trust is a loan owed by the trust to Joshua in the amount of $150,000.
• Superannuation death benefits and life insurance in his superannuation in the total sum of $2.2 million.
• Shares:
  • IAG5200ordinarysharesvaluedat$33,750
  • Telstra9,000ordinarysharesvaluedat$31,500,and
  • NAB1625ordinarysharesvaluedat$52,000.
• Bank account in his sole name St George Bank Account BSB 112 879 No. 425870 valued at $83,500.
• Joint bank account with Rina Commonwealth Bank Account BSB 062 245 5792509 valued at $8,400.
• Arthur Boyd painting Death of a Horse valued at $140,000.
• 2015HoldenCalaisvaluedat$42,000.
• Personal effects valued at $15,000.

Otherliabilitiesowedby Joshua at hisdeath werethesumof$198owedto Telstraforphone and internet services,$466owedto AGLEnergyand apersonal loanowedby Joshua to the Commonwealth Bank in the amount of $36,000.

Rinamadearrangements forJoshuasfuneralandhasjustreceivedthe invoice forthe funeral costs in the sum of $15,300 owed to White Lady Funerals.

Megan White died 28 days after the death of her father Joshua White. At the time of her death,Megan White wasina relationship registeredundertheRelationshipsAct2008(Vic) with her de facto spouse of 5 years, Sarah West.

Approximatelythreeyearsago,Meganand Sarahdecided theywerereadyto starta family and Sarah andMeganunderwentegg sharing IVFtreatment.Sarah conceiveda child from an embryo created with Megans eggs and a sperm donor. Several such embryos were frozen during the IVF procedure. Sarah gave birth to a daughter, Wendy West-White (2).

Sarah didnotwant Wendy to beanonlychildandunderwentIVFfertilisationusing the frozen embryos after Megans death and she is now pregnant with twins.

Instructions

YoumustcompletebothpartAandpartB.

PartA

Youareemployedbya legalfirm retainedby RinaBlue to actonherbehalfin relationtothe estate of the late Joshua White. It is 6 weeks since Joshuas death.

Rinahasaskedforyouradviceabouttheentitlementsand rightsthatshe andherunborn child may have in the estate.

Writea letterofadviceofnomorethanthreepagestoRina in whichyouadviseher:

• who the beneficiaries of the estate are
• what their interests and entitlements in the estate are
• who is eligible to apply for a grant of representation in the estate
• the nature of the grant to be sought, and
• a list of the relevant documentation to be prepared and what additional information is

In youradviceyoudonotneedtoaddressfamilyprovision issuesoryourcostsdisclosure.

PartB

It isnow4monthssince Joshuasdeathand Rinagave birth toa babygirlnamed Jennifer2 months ago. No one has yet advertised their intention to apply for a grant of representation for the estate of the late Joshua White.

LastSaturday,Rina foundanundateddocumentin Joshuashandwritingamongsthiswork papers which states as follows:

Will

Halfofmysuper/lifeinsurancegoestoRina

Igive11WarbeckStreet,SouthYarratoRina. I give my car to my son Michael.

I giveDeathofaHorsetomy daughterMegan.

Mychildren are togetan equalshareofallofmyotherassets. Signed Joshua White

NoothertestamentarydocumenthasbeenfoundforJoshua.

Rina asks you to prepare all necessary documentation to obtain a grant of representation in Joshuas estate. Affidavits may refer to exhibits but it is not necessary to prepare exhibits except an inventory of assets and liabilities.