The question of 'needs' in a family provision application under s 9(2) of the Family Provision Act 1982 (NSW) is not confined to present particular needs but extends to the need to guard against unforeseen contingencies, including the possibility that a spouse's financial support may cease. The nature of the relationship between the eligible person and the deceased is relevant at the first stage of the Singer v Berghouse inquiry (whether provision is inadequate), not only at the second stage (what provision ought to be made). However, an eligible person who has voluntarily divested himself of substantial assets, engaged in spiteful litigation against the deceased, and whose need is merely contingent, may fail to establish that provision is inadequate.
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