Re Bennie

In the Supreme Court of Queensland, Jordan Edward Allan Bennie has applied for letters of administration on the intestacy of Diana Rosalind Bennie, who died on 18 June 2023. Diana Bennie, who died without a will, was survived by her brother John Edward Anthony Bennie and her sister Myriam Philippine Leonie Whitting. Both siblings have renounced their right to administer the estate. Jordan Bennie, the applicant, is John Bennie’s son and Diana Bennie’s nephew. The court must determine whether Jordan Bennie, given that all higher priority relatives have renounced, should be granted letters of administration.

The key issue before the court was whether Jordan Bennie, as the nephew of the deceased, should be granted letters of administration on intestacy. This issue hinged on the order of priority set out in r 610(1) of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) and the discretion of the court under r 610(3). The court considered the recent case of Re Sellers (dec’d) [2024] QSC 119, where similar circumstances led to the granting of letters of administration to the nephew of the deceased. The court noted that the application was properly advertised and no other person has shown an interest in the estate. The court found that the most proximate relatives either don't exist, have died, or have renounced their right to apply, thus making Jordan Bennie a suitable candidate.

The court, guided by the principles in Re Sellers, found that the facts in this case were broadly similar. The applicant, being the nephew of the deceased, had no higher priority relatives who had not renounced their rights or who had not predeceased the deceased. The application was properly advertised, and no other person had shown interest in administering the estate. Therefore, the court exercised its discretion to grant letters of administration on intestacy to Jordan Bennie. The court's decision was based on the lack of higher priority relatives and the absence of any other claimants.

Accordingly, the court made the following orders: subject to the formal requirements of the Registrar, letters of administration on intestacy of the estate of Diana Rosalind Bennie were to be issued to Jordan Edward Allan Bennie. The applicant’s costs of the application were to be paid from the estate on the indemnity basis.