Following the 1997 amendments to Part IV of the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic), the In re Sinnott approach of treating adult sons as prima facie able to maintain themselves is no longer open; the court must not adopt a different approach by reason only of the applicant's sex. Where a testator has given one child substantial financial benefit during his lifetime (such as allowing the child to run cattle on the testator's land), the testator's moral duty to another child extends to providing comparable career assistance, but no further. The legislation is concerned with adequate provision for proper maintenance and support, not with achieving a fair general distribution of the estate.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 14 later cases that cite this judgment.
2 of the 14 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.