| 9:00 AM | Arrival and Registration |
| 9:20 AM | Opening address – His Honour Justice Francois Kunc of the Supreme Court of New South Wales |
| 10:10AM | Preparing and Defending Family Provisions Claims – Ari Katsoulas This session will provide practitioners with a practical guide to assessing, preparing, and defending family provision claims. Attention will be given to the preparation and use of lay and expert evidence. This session will meet the requirements for the compulsory Professional Skills CPD. |
| 11:00AM | MORNING TEA |
| 11:20AM | Interim Family Provision Applications – Luke Hammond The mechanism for making an interim family provision order is found in section 62 of Succession Act 2006 (NSW). A great many practitioners will have acted for a plaintiff in an application for a family provision order who is in dire financial straits during the conduct of their claim. Despite this, there are a “surprisingly small” amount of published judgments concerning interim family provision orders. Luke Hammond recently acted for the successful applicant for an application for an interim family provision order in Byrd v Margiotta [2023] NSWSC 1556. This talk discusses some of the possible reasons for the lack of published judgments in the area and provides a practical guide for practitioners advising their clients in relation to making such an application. |
| 11:50AM | Approval of Releases in Family Provision Claims – Jayneil Shandil Section 95 of the Succession Act 2006 introduces the concept of ” release of rights to apply for a family provision order,” a voluntary act where one waives their entitlement to seek such an order, subject to Court approval. This process can occur before or after a person’s death, but Court approval is not automatic and depends on the specific circumstances of each case. The Court considers all relevant factors, not just those present at the time of the financial agreement. This presentation will explore the principles, requirements, and procedures for obtaining Court approval for such releases. |
| 12:20PM | Informal Testamentary Documents – John Armfield When is a document that is not a Will in fact a Will? Section 8 of the Succession Act 2006 (NSW) allows documents that do not comply with the formalities relating to execution of Wills to be admitted to probate. You will be surprised what is a “document”. In this paper John Armfield examines the minefield of what is an informal Will and how Courts have answered the vexed question of whether a document was intended by a deceased person to be a Will. |
| 1:00 PM | LUNCH |
| 2:00 PM | A Conversation about Estoppel in Estate Litigation – John Armfield & Andrew Stevens The same set of facts may give rise to multiple causes of action, for example, claims based in contract, estoppel and family provision. What are the pros and cons in running one cause of action. In this paper, John Armfield and Andrew Stevens give practical tips as to how to answer this question. By reference to caselaw, they discuss the importance of pleadings and the type of evidence to win or successfully defend a claim. |
| 2:50 PM | War on Trusts – Craig Birtles Testamentary trusts can provide tangible tax and asset protection benefits to beneficiaries in appropriate circumstances. But in other cases they have no real benefit to the beneficiaries and can be difficult and expensive to terminate. In this paper Craig Birtles prompts discussion on the utility of testamentary trusts. He will address opportunities to “opt out” from, terminate and vary testamentary trusts through drafting and/or an application pursuant to the newly enacted s 86A of the Trustee Act 1925 (NSW) in light of Cisera v Cisera [2023] NSWSC 1507. |
| 3:40 PM | AFTERNOON TEA |
| 4:00 PM | Independent Administrators discussion – Richard Neal and Benjamin Dornan Independent administrators may be appointed in many circumstances: on an interim basis where parties to a probate suit would be assisted by the management of estate assets pending determination of the suit; or on a final basis where administration and other disputes mean that an independent administrator is of assistance. This session is an interactive discussion between frequent appointees Richard Neal (Teece Hodgson & Ward) and Benjamin Dornan (L Rundle & Co), both Accredited Specialists in Wills & Estates and partners of their respective firms, on the information they require prior to consenting to appointments, usual orders and their approach to administration problems. |
| 5:00 PM | Close |
His Honour Justice Francois Kunc
His Honour was appointed to the Equity Division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales on 8 April 2013 and will commence managing the Succession (Family Provision) List in 2024.
Richard Neal
Richard (Teece Hodgson & Ward) is widely recognised as a leading lawyer in New South Wales in contested estate claims, family provision claims and complex estate planning matters. Richard is named in the Doyle’s Guide from 2015 to 2023 as a Preeminent Wills & Estates Litigation Lawyer – New South Wales and Preeminent Wills, Estates Planning and Succession Planning Lawyer – New South Wales. He is co-author of Succession Law and Practice NSW (Mason and Handler) and Hutley’s Australian Wills Precedents (LexisNexis Butterworths) 10th Edition (2021). He regularly acts as an Administrator or Interim Administrator appointed by the Court.
Benjamin Dornan
Benjamin (L Rundle & Co) is an accredited specialist in Wills & Estates, member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), is a member of the Law Society of New South Wales and a member of the Law Society of New South Wales Elder Law Committee from 2018-2020. Ben is recognised as one of the Doyle’s Guide as a leading Wills & Estates Litigation and Estate Planning Lawyer.
John Armfield
Called to the Bar in 1983, John is recognised by his peers as an expert in Succession Law and is listed as a preeminent junior counsel in the area of Wills & Esates litigation by Doyle’s Guide. He is a Nationally Accredited Mediator and frequently mediates contested succession and probate disputes.
Ari Katsoulas
Ari Katsoulas is recognised in the Doyle’s Guide as a recommended junior counsel in the Wills & Estates Litigation practice area. In addition, he is regularly briefed in commercial, insolvency and equity claims.
Andrew Stevens
Andrew Stevens practices in Equity and Succession Law, including probate, family provision, contested estates and equity claims. He has a Masters in Laws majoring in wills and estates.
Craig Birtles
Craig is recognised as a preeminent junior counsel in the Doyle’s Guide Wills & Estate Litigation practice area. He is a member of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP) and the NSW Bar Association Succession and Elder Law Committee. He is a co-author of C Birtles, R Neal & C Sims, Hutley’s Australian Wills Precedents (LexisNexis Butterworths) 10th Edition (2021).
Luke Hammond
Luke Hammond conducts a general civil practice primarily in Equity specialising in Wills & Estates. Luke is currently a lecturer for the College of Law Masters Program in family provision.
Jayneil Shandil
Jayneil was called to the Bar in 2017 where he maintains a diverse commericial and equity practice, including estate matters.
In-Person Attendance
$385 (inc GST)
Accomodation Options
The Olive Grove venue is located at Forresters Beach just north of Terrigal on the NSW Central Coast.
Accomodation is available onsite at the adjoining Quarters Forresters Beach. Accomodation bookings may be made directly with the venue: https://www.tqfb.com.au/
Alternate accomodation options include the Crowne Plaza Terrigal Pacific, a short 10 minute drive away.
