David is the owner of extensive real estate exceeding $5 million in value. With the intention of saving money, David elected to purchase a will kit and drafted his own will. His will reads that essentially 80% of his estate would pass to his wife, to whom he was married for the last 6 years of his life, so that she could set up a charity in his name. The will had very little regard for his two children from a previous marriage, one of which suffered a significant disability.

Furthermore, due to the lack of clarity in the wording used in drafting his homemade will, there are also significant questions over what the will actually means which is now the subject of dispute and family provision claims under the Succession Act 2006 NSW.

The current proceedings are now in a state of flux where the intention to create a testamentary trust and charitable trust are in serious issue.

It is now likely that the provision of 80% of the estate to David's wife for the purposes of establishing a charity have now given rise to the potential involvement of the Attorney-General, who has an interest in charitable donations.

As a result of the wording in the will being significantly unclear as to the will maker's intentions, it is likely that the majority of the estate will now form the basis of family provision claims of interested parties at a significant cost to the estate and the testamentary intention of David which is now very unlikely to be carried out in light of those claims.

Had David received proper legal advice and if his will was written in clearer terms, the current litigation would most likely not have occurred.

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