My mother died in April 2013 and had made a will with the Public trustees in which a lesser portion of her estate was left to my older brother and my remaining 3 siblings and I received equal shares but a significantly larger portion than my brother. She had a good relationships with all of us but did not outline her reasons for leaving my older brother a smaller portion in her will. I am not sure why she wasn't advised to do this by the public trustees at the time she made her will .
My older brother, who received the smaller portion has a severe intellectual disability and is in receipt of a pension and accommodation support from Dept of Disability services. She consulted with his accommodation managers while she was alive and was always of the understanding that my older brother would continue to have his needs provided for by the Dept. I have recently been assured by DDS that this is still the case and his current pension and accommodation support is more than adequate to cover his needs, and provision will be made for him until the time of his death;
Mum's estate was finalised in October 2014 and myself and three younger siblings received our inheritance and my older brother's smaller inheritance was to be held in trust by the Public Trustees to meet the cost of any unforeseen expenses my older brother might incur.
In February 2015 I received a letter from the Public Trustees Private administrators support team: The letter said ..." a number of matters have been identified by the Public Trustees Private administrators support team concerning the distribution of our mothers estate, which may require investigation. These matters relate to whether or not your mother made adequate provision for (brother's Name) in her will." The letter continued.
" This also raises the question as to who is in the best position to investigate this issue. It mat appear that as a beneficiary of your mother's estate, and as a decision maker for (Brother's Name) that you maybe in a conflict of interest regarding this issue, especially if (brother) has a right to make an 'Inheritance Act Claim' contending that his mother failed to make adequate provision for his needs. It might be felt that you have a 'conflict of interest' in respect of these matters.
The matter was brought before a State Administrative Tribunal in May 2015 and a decision was made that an investigation would be made at my brothers expense.
My siblings and I opposed this of course. Firstly because we know that our bother's needs are currently well met. Secondly because we can see little point in wasting what money he does have on unnecessary investigations, thirdly because we don't know how fair the investigation will be if it is run by people who have no knowledge or understanding of my mother's reasoning, my brothers disability and needs, the financial needs and responsibilities of my self and other siblings. Fourthly because the Public Trustees are running the investigation and they have a vested interest in procuring more money for my brother as they charge fees on money they keep in trust for him and it is creating work for them to do.
In July 2015 I received another letter from the Public Trustee requesting that I release $ 2000 to allow this investigation to proceed. I haven't sought legal advice so far and am wondering if I should or if this would prove more costly than letting the investigation take its course.
My older brother, who received the smaller portion has a severe intellectual disability and is in receipt of a pension and accommodation support from Dept of Disability services. She consulted with his accommodation managers while she was alive and was always of the understanding that my older brother would continue to have his needs provided for by the Dept. I have recently been assured by DDS that this is still the case and his current pension and accommodation support is more than adequate to cover his needs, and provision will be made for him until the time of his death;
Mum's estate was finalised in October 2014 and myself and three younger siblings received our inheritance and my older brother's smaller inheritance was to be held in trust by the Public Trustees to meet the cost of any unforeseen expenses my older brother might incur.
In February 2015 I received a letter from the Public Trustees Private administrators support team: The letter said ..." a number of matters have been identified by the Public Trustees Private administrators support team concerning the distribution of our mothers estate, which may require investigation. These matters relate to whether or not your mother made adequate provision for (brother's Name) in her will." The letter continued.
" This also raises the question as to who is in the best position to investigate this issue. It mat appear that as a beneficiary of your mother's estate, and as a decision maker for (Brother's Name) that you maybe in a conflict of interest regarding this issue, especially if (brother) has a right to make an 'Inheritance Act Claim' contending that his mother failed to make adequate provision for his needs. It might be felt that you have a 'conflict of interest' in respect of these matters.
The matter was brought before a State Administrative Tribunal in May 2015 and a decision was made that an investigation would be made at my brothers expense.
My siblings and I opposed this of course. Firstly because we know that our bother's needs are currently well met. Secondly because we can see little point in wasting what money he does have on unnecessary investigations, thirdly because we don't know how fair the investigation will be if it is run by people who have no knowledge or understanding of my mother's reasoning, my brothers disability and needs, the financial needs and responsibilities of my self and other siblings. Fourthly because the Public Trustees are running the investigation and they have a vested interest in procuring more money for my brother as they charge fees on money they keep in trust for him and it is creating work for them to do.
In July 2015 I received another letter from the Public Trustee requesting that I release $ 2000 to allow this investigation to proceed. I haven't sought legal advice so far and am wondering if I should or if this would prove more costly than letting the investigation take its course.