Britt v Office of the State Coroner

[2022] WASCA 75

Western Australia Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Succession Law
2. › Intestacy
3. › De facto partner entitlement
4. › Whether de facto relationship subsisted for at least two years immediately before death
5. › Administration Act 1903 (WA), ss 14, 15(1)
6. › Interpretation Act 1984 (WA), s 13A
1. Succession Law
2. › Burial rights
3. › Dispute between deceased's mother and de facto partner
4. › Person dying intestate
5. › Whether body should be released to person most likely to be granted administration
6. › Relevance of cultural and spiritual considerations
7. › Whether departure from usual approach justified
1. De Facto Relationships
2. › Determination of existence and duration
3. › Factors relevant to characterisation
4. › Use of retrospectant evidence to determine commencement date
5. › Whether short interruption ended relationship
6. › Interpretation Act 1984 (WA), s 13A
1. Appeal
2. › Construction of extempore reasons
3. › Whether critical factual finding to be inferred from primary judge's extempore reasons
4. › Allowance for urgency and context of submissions

Quick Take

In burial disputes where a person dies intestate, the court will ordinarily release the body to the person who appears most likely to be granted administration of the estate, but this is not a rigid rule and practical considerations including cultural values may be relevant. The commencement date of a de facto relationship may be determined by a process of looking back from later evidence, and retrospectant evidence (such as a couple's reaction to a pregnancy) may justify an inference that a marriage-like relationship existed at an earlier time. Short interruptions in a de facto relationship do not necessarily bring the relationship to an end.