Legal Hypothetical: How a hooked fish leads to a family fallout

How a hooked fish leads to a family fallout

LEON and Megan had been married for 30 years, they lived in a large house overlooking a pristine river where they would often fish in their younger years.

One morning Leon, who had not caught a fish for a long time, finally got one!

Such was his surprise that Leon sadly died of a heart attack.

Megan, unable to maintain the home without Leon, decides to live with her son Phil.

She gives Phil $300,000 to build a granny flat on his property.

Phil then made a promise to his sister, Nola, to give her $150,000 when Megan passed.

Megan knew about this promise between her children.

After several years, the relationship between Phil and Megan deteriorates and Phil asked his mum to leave.

Megan demanded Phil repay the $300,000 as she needed this money to find new accommodation.

Megan house sat and was cared for by her friends for a few months, until she was convinced to see a lawyer to get her money back from Phil.

In Court, Phil argued that the money provided to him was a gift as there were no conditions between him and his mother regarding the repayment.

The Court found that Megan gave Phil a conditional gift of $300,000, based on the right for Megan to reside in the granny flat and once the right to reside in the granny flat was removed, the conditional gift was withdrawn, requiring Phil to repay the funds to Megan.

This situation is common among families where parties tend to rely on ambiguous agreements which may lead to expensive, time consuming and relationship-damaging matters to be resolved in the legal system.

In this instance had Megan and Phil sought legal advice prior to Megan moving-in with Phil, a Granny Flat Agreement could have been drafted, clearly setting-out the arrangement and the matter may not have escalated when Phil asked Megan to leave his property.

Thank you to Anthony Fogarty for his assistance with this column.

Email Manny Wood, principal solicitor at TB Law at manny@tblaw.net.au or call him on (02) 66 487 487.

By Manny WOOD

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