SA Seeking Provision for Mother's Deceased Estate?

[Julz@a]

I live in Adelaide; all my family live in Sydney. I have been in contact with Legal Aid in SA, and they advised I would need to seek advice in NSW.

My parents sought Property Settlement, which was ruled on and settled several years ago. My father passed away in 02/16 and my mother 05/16. My father's deceased estate is being contested on grounds of competency (it is quite involved due to a Family Trust). My siblings, and I have engaged the services of a Lawyer.

One sibling and I are seeking Provision from my father's deceased estate (I am on a Disability Support Pension and have been since 2005) I have been 'kept out of the loop' regarding anything to do with my mother's estate. Notice of intended application for Probate online was listed 04/08/2016. I also wish to seek Provision from my mother's estate

My question is, do I have a legal right to the following:

Copy of Property Settlement/Division of Property
Copies of Death Certificates
Copies of all Wills
Copies of Power of Attorney & Enduring Guardianship (I understand that POA & EG 'die' with death. However, it has been alleged siblings that held POA might have acted inappropriately. It has also been suggested a Forensic accountant be engaged due to the nature of my father's estate and alleged questionable actions).

When do I need to advise the Lawyers Acting for my mother's deceased estate, (of which one is a friend of one sibling/executor) that I wish to seek Provision from my mother's deceased estate.

I apologise for this lengthy post but wanted to provide as much information as I could.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Sophea]

As a child of the deceased, you have a right to request a copy of the will from the executors. They are required to provide that to you upon request. As for the other documents, they will likely be relevant to family provision application proceedings so they will most likely be disclosed to you in the discovery process.

If you wish to bring a family provision application in respect of your mother's estate also, I would be giving notice as soon as possible! There are strict statutory time limits for such actions and if you don't make them you can lose your right to claim at all.