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Leigh

Well-Known Member
20 May 2015
16
0
71
My son took his life last year leaving a 9-year-old child. He left a will, leaving his house which does not have a lot of equity to my husband and he has been granted administration on the will.

His daughter will receive his Superannuation death benefits, plus money from death benefits from a Workcover claim and her mother will receive a small pension from WorkCover. My son was a student and paid little child support.

The relationship between families is poor, my son have been separated from the mother for over 7 years The grandmother constantly harassed him, defied family court orders, etc. And sent many offensive texts and letter without and factual basis. My son left evidence that this behaviour has a large part in his decision to kill himself.

Yesterday my son's partner rang saying she wanted a copy of the will, as my granddaughter is not a beneficiary do we have to provide? She was very pushy.

The super company have sent papers tor her to complete and she asked about setting up a trust fund. As the executor my husband thought this would be his place to do. The mother wants to appoint the grandmother's de facto to manage the trust. He is an accountant and according to the mother makes a lot of money from investing.

Our issue is that he is not independent. They all live together, and the grandmother rules. Do we have any rights to decide who is trustee? The mother has had a troubled past, has never worked and several criminal convictions.

This would be our son's worst nightmare. He wanted to protect his daughter and for the trust to be managed by one of them seems not right. We wanted a conservative trustee who can preserve the money for his daughter until she grows up.
 

Lance

Well-Known Member
31 October 2015
852
123
2,394
Hi Leigh,

Because your granddaughter is a party to the estate albeit Superannuation she may have a right to a copy. It's best to speak with a lawyer skilled in this aspect of the law to make sure your husband doesn't do the wrong thing.
 

winston wolf

Well-Known Member
21 April 2014
424
115
894
Adelaide
changefpa.com.au
Your granddaughter (therefore her guardian) and your son's ex-partner have a right to a copy of the will a they could claim for provision from the estate.

Superannuation is not part of the estate(in most cases) that's why the executor is not involved.

Most likely the super will be payed to the guardian of the beneficiary. I think as the executor your husband would be within his rights to contact the super fund and request the funds be held in trust until she is 18. This would be at the discretion on the super trustee but you could give it a go.