Law Institute welcomes amendments to allow adult children to challenge wills
The Law Institute of Victoria has welcomed compromise between the Government and the Opposition to improve proposed succession laws and ensure adult children will always be eligible to challenge a will.
LIV President Geoff Bowyer said the Government and Opposition had listened to concerns raised by the LIV and others about the Justice Legislation Amendment (Succession and Surrogacy) Bill 2014.
Mr Bowyer said the LIV and other legal stakeholders worked with all parties to ensure concerns with the original Bill were understood and were reflected in House amendments introduced by the Government this week.
“The outcome is a better piece of legislation that will protect the rights of adult family members with good reasons to challenge wills,” Mr Bowyer said.
He said that the proposed Bill would have limited eligible claimants, disadvantaged those with meritorious claims and created injustice.
The amendments related to four key issues – the removal of the dependency test for children, introduction of a requirement that eligible people, such as grandchildren, show dependency on the deceased at or nearthe time of death, the removal of a release of rights provisions and some transitional amendments.
The Government has also indicated that the new provisions only affect applications made in respect of the estate of a person who died after the commencement of the Bill.
“The amendments are sensible and we are pleased that both the Government and the Opposition have listened to concerns raised by us. We have a better Bill and a better outcome for Victorians as a result,” Mr Bowyer said.
Mr Bowyer said the LIV and the Victorian Law Reform Commission had acknowledged that the existing law allows opportunistic claims, but the initial Bill went too far in removing rights to challenge.
The Bill has passed the Legislative Council and is listed for debate in the Legislative Assembly.
Source LIV Media Release