Kiernan v Evan Alexander George Cranston and Robyn Ruth Purcell as Executors of the Will of Frances Elizabeth Anne Cranston [No 2]

The case before the court involved the plaintiffs, who are the adult children of the deceased, applying under section 6(1) of the Family Provision Act 1972 (WA) for an order that the estate of the deceased, Frances Elizabeth Anne Cranston, be varied to provide for them. The defendants, Evan Alexander George Cranston and Robyn Ruth Purcell, are the executors of the will of the deceased who made no provision for the plaintiffs in her will. The plaintiffs argued that the deceased had not made adequate provision for their proper maintenance, support, education, or advancement in life.

The legal issues the court needed to determine were whether the plaintiffs' conduct constituted disentitling conduct under the Act, and if the deceased had made adequate provision for their proper maintenance, support, education, or advancement in life. The court also had to consider the circumstances of the estrangement between the deceased and the plaintiffs, and the effect, if any, of that estrangement on the application under the Act.

The court found that the plaintiffs' conduct did not constitute disentitling conduct, and that the deceased had not made adequate provision for their proper maintenance, support, education, or advancement in life. The court acknowledged the period of estrangement between the deceased and the plaintiffs but found that it did not preclude the plaintiffs from making an application under the Act. The court considered the plaintiffs' financial circumstances, their relationship with the deceased, and the deceased's ability to make provision for them in reaching its decision. The court made orders varying the will to provide for the plaintiffs.