Lawyers practising in deceased estate disputes risk losing money if they don't comply with new rules

Written by Adrian Corbould -

The Supreme Court’s relatively new Practice Note relating to deceased estate disputes has been in place for the past three months, having taken effect from 1 June 2009.

We have observed over the past months that the Court's desired aim of reducing the costs and running time of such matters is quickly taking effect.

If you take instructions in these types of matters there are a number of changes you need to remember or you will end up doing some of the work for “love” only.

A claimant's evidence must now be served at the time of serving the initiating proceedings, drastically cutting down the average duration of running cases. Costs orders will be made against parties that file affidavits which include irrelevant evidence.

Court Registrars are also acting on referring matters during the interim running of cases to Judges to impose costs capping orders if they believe the costs of ongoing litigation to be disproportionate to the estate assets in issue. Such related costs orders by the Court are already occurring with greater frequency.

A practitioner also needs to become familiar with the Online Court - the online filing of documents and conduct of online Directions Hearings. We have found Online Court to be most beneficial with filing documents as they may be filed from one’s desktop computer, with the document being sealed and returned within hours of filing. The past risk of original documents being lost in the mail and the delay of post is eliminated.

This is only a short overview of the many changes. If you would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to call or email me with questions.

As an aside, at Turnbull Hill Lawyers we are acting in excess of 110 estate dispute matters at the present time, and have acted in more than 30 of the most ground-breaking reported Supreme Court contested estate decisions in the past ten years.

We are always happy to discuss assisting practitioners who would like to consider referring work in this complex area.

Disclaimer - This article is offered for general information purposes only. It is not offered as and does not constitute specific legal advice or opinion. The accuracy of the information is not guaranteed. You should not act or rely upon any of the information contained within this article without seeking the advice of a qualified solicitor who specialises in the particular area of expertise and jurisdiction that you require.