Bladwell v Davis

The parties in this matter were the adult son and daughter of the deceased, who sought provision from the deceased's estate, and the deceased's de facto partner of 28 years, who was the beneficiary under the deceased's will. The dispute concerned an application for leave to appeal a decision by a Master who had awarded provision totalling $60,000 to the son and daughter from the residue of the estate.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether to grant leave to appeal the Master's decision. This involved a review of the factors favouring and adverse to granting such leave, particularly in light of a mathematical error made by the Master in estimating the distributable estate. The Master had incorrectly calculated the distributable estate at $389,000, when the correct figure was $313,000, and had awarded provision totalling $60,000 from this estimated figure.

The Court of Appeal, comprising Ipp JA, Bryson JA, and Stein AJA, refused leave to appeal. While acknowledging the mathematical error, the Court considered the overall circumstances and the relevant factors for granting leave to appeal in family provision claims. The Judges made observations regarding the primacy of a widow's claim in family provision matters, suggesting that this principle was relevant to their consideration of the application.

Consequently, leave to appeal was refused, and the applicants were ordered to pay the costs of the appeal.