Anka Vuksic v Permanent Trustee Co Ltd

Anka Vuksic brought a claim against Permanent Trustee Co Ltd under the Family Provision Act 1982 (NSW), challenging the validity of a will on the basis that she was the daughter of the deceased, Kosta Vuksic, and therefore entitled to a provision from his estate. The dispute centred on whether a parentage test should be ordered to determine paternity. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The primary legal issue before the court was whether a parentage test should be ordered to determine if the plaintiff, Anka, was indeed the daughter of the deceased, Kosta. A secondary issue was whether the parentage test could be ordered against persons not joined as parties to the proceedings.

The court found that the distress caused by the imputation of the mother's alleged infidelity was not a sufficient ground to refuse the testing. Furthermore, the court held that the statutory provisions and regulations governing the taking of samples for parentage testing under the Status of Children Act 1996 (NSW) and Status of Children Regulation 2003 (NSW) did not necessarily provide the exclusive means by which a parentage report could be admissible in proceedings under the Family Provision Act 1982 (NSW). The court reasoned that the deceased's results might not be required in the ultimate proceedings if the plaintiff's parentage testing results could be compared with those of her siblings. The court thus ordered that Anka undergo parentage testing procedures. However, the court refused to order parentage testing against persons not joined as parties to the proceedings, as it found that such an order would be an inappropriate exercise of the court's discretion.