NSW Illegal Distribution of Estate

[Bangnaben]

Hi All.

Sadly earlier this year my brother in law took his own life, there was no will, he left behind two young children (2 & 4)

At the time he was separated from my sister for about 15 months, 3 months after they separated he was living with another partner, about 3 months after that they got engaged.

When he passed away, he had been with this new partner for less than 12 months, he had settled property with my sister, they were in the process of applying for a divorce, but the divorce was not final.

My sister is working with a solicitor to apply for letters of administration, although that seems futile given there doesn't seem to be much of the estate left to administrate.

Through her solicitor, my sister received bank records that showed that $70K had been transferred out of his personal account, into a joint account he shared with the partner, then it looks like she then transferred that $70K into her own personal account.

She has since moved out of a rental they shared, taken all of his belongings and moved to New Zealand and is trying to also take his superannuation (separate matter)

Regardless of whether she would have been considered a spouse (potentially unlikely) is what has happened likely criminal? Surely any assets should first go to the estate and then be distributed based on entitlement or at least give others the chance to contest it.

These are the facts as far as I can see them, If she has committed a crime, what would be the best way to follow it up. Using her current solicitor doesn't seem feasible, we would potentially spend a large some trying to recover the uncoverable. We are more interested, that if there was a crime, then it is brought to justice.

Best Regards,
Ben

 

[winston wolf]

As I see it you are wanting to recover the $70K?
You would need the court to deem the money "Notional Estate". This normally happens as part of a will dispute of family provision claim.
In NSW any transfer can be considered Notional Estate(part of the estate) if done prior to 3 years of death.

I would get legal advice as the cost to recover the money could be more that the value? The fact she is OS ads to the problem. I don’t think she has done anything illegal if it was a joint account.

 

[Bangnaben]

Thanks for the information on "notional estate" I will look into that, you are correct, recovering the money could prove to be fruitless (may have been spent) or expensive.

To be clear it definitely was not a joint account, it was transferred from his personal account in his name only into a joint account they held.

The main concern for us is to ensure the money is put in trust for his children, but that seems unlikely