Illman v Sterrey

In the matter of Illman v Sterrey, the applicant, a sibling of the deceased, sought an order that provision be made for him from the estate of his late sister, Lisa-Jane Holland. The deceased, who died on 11 May 2021, left a will that made specific bequests, with the majority of her estate being left to her cousin and two friends. The applicant filed an affidavit detailing his financial situation, which included an annual income of $200,000 plus superannuation, rental income from three properties, and school fees for his children. The respondents, who are the deceased’s cousin and friends named in the will, applied for summary judgment, asserting that there was no reasonable basis for the applicant's claim.

The legal issues before the court were whether the applicant was an eligible claimant under the Inheritance (Family Provision) Act 1972 and whether he had demonstrated that he had been left without adequate provision for his proper maintenance, education, and advancement in life. The court considered the distinction between summary judgment and summary dismissal, ultimately concluding that the application should proceed under the appropriate rule for summary dismissal. The applicant argued that the application should have been made under UCR 143 rather than UCR 144, but the court found no error in the application under UCR 144.

The court held that the applicant was not an eligible claimant as he had not shown that he had cared for or contributed to the maintenance of the deceased in a manner beyond ordinary sibling conduct. The court further found that even if the applicant was an eligible claimant, he had not established that the deceased had a moral duty to make provision for him. The court reasoned that the relationship between siblings does not inherently impose a moral duty to provide for one another in testamentary dispositions, especially when the sibling is financially independent, as was the case with the applicant. Therefore, the court granted the respondents' application for summary judgment, dismissing the applicant's claim.