Blendell v Blendell; Blendell v Blendell

[2020] NSWCA 154

NSW Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Succession
2. › Family provision
3. › Adult children
4. › Whether adequate provision made by will leaving entire estate to surviving spouse
5. › Whether primary judge had sufficient evidence of applicants' financial circumstances
6. › Whether failure to produce documents a basis for rejecting application
7. › Succession Act 2006 (NSW), ss 59(1)(c), (2), 60(2)
1. Succession
2. › Family provision
3. › Evaluative assessment under s 59(1)(c)
4. › Relevance of deceased's testamentary intentions
5. › Relevance of competing claims of sole beneficiary spouse
6. › Whether primary judge had regard to 50-year marital relationship and contributions to estate
7. › Succession Act 2006 (NSW), ss 59(1)(c), 60(2)(a), (d), (m)
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Evidence
3. › Failure to comply with notice to produce
4. › Whether non-compliance with s 56 of Civil Procedure Act entitles court to dismiss statutory claim
5. › Whether perjury or deliberate withholding of evidence is per se disentitling in family provision proceedings
6. › Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), s 56
7. › Succession Act 2006 (NSW), s 60(2)(m)

Quick Take

Practitioners acting for executors resisting family provision claims should note that non-compliance with notices to produce or s 56 obligations cannot alone justify dismissal of the claim; the proper course is to address evidentiary deficiencies through adverse inferences and credibility findings.