Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Australia
signing a stat dec
My Father recently died he and my Mother have been seperated for 23 years but never devorced he had a defacto relationship I have 6 brothers and sisters we were told that he owned nothing and had nothing but now my brother has come forward and wants all the siblings to sign a stat dec declaring that we want no claim on a house that is still in both my parents names and he also says that my father owned other properties and business with his defacto I dont know weather to sign this stac dec or not. My brother says that if we sign this stat dec saying that we want no claim on this house my mother will have the house put in her name solely is this true and how do I find out about properties that my Father may have owned. Also how do I find out If he had a will and if so who is the executer.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: signing a stat dec
Your question is a bit unclear, but doing the best I can with it.....
If the home that is registered in both your mother and father's names was held as "joint tenants" ( a title search will show you)then the haouse passed to your mother by survivorship. If it was held as "tenants-in-common" your father could deal with his interest by his will. If he didn't have a will, his interest will be dealt with according to the intestacy rules in the relevant state. That might mean that the de facto would have a claim to the oyur father's interest in the house.
I am unsure what force the stat dec would have. It depends on what it says and what it is trying to do. I incline to the thought that it is probably worthl;ess in terms of legal force. In any event you should not sign it without having more information about your father's affairs and knowing whether or not he had a will.
You can check what properties your father owned by searching the land registry. That will only show up properties owned by him personally - if he owned property through a company the search would not show that up - you would need to search for any interests your afther had in companies (this can be done through ASIC).
You will have to ask around amongst your siblings for information about whether there was a will or ask the de facto. There is no compulsory will registration.
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