Some recent court cases dealing with disputes over deceased estates have demonstrated changes in how de facto couples and stepchildren are recognised under Australian law. The new trend is that de facto relationships are viewed in the same way as marriages, particularly when it comes to how stepchildren are treated.

A Western Australian case involved a man and a woman in a de facto couple who separated four years prior to his death. His will left all of his estate to his former partner, however she was deemed not entitled to the estate because the relationship had ended.

In May, the Victorian Court of Appeal recognised that stepchildren of a de facto couple had the same rights as stepchildren of married couples, in terms of family provision applications. A recent case illustrates the law, whereby the de facto couple were together for 40 years, until the woman died in 2011. The man then entered into another de facto relationship, and when he died, he left his entire estate to his new partner. The court found that the relationship between the stepchild and stepparent of the first couple was ended by death, and not separation, therefore the legal relationship between stepchild and stepparent remained intact.

     The Queensland government amended its State Succession Act in June 2017 with two changes.

1. The end of a de facto relationship revokes any gifts to the de facto partner and the appointment of the de facto partner as executor.
2. For the purposes of making a family provision claim, a stepchild and stepparent relationship is deemed to have ended upon the ending of the de facto relationship, but not because the child’s parent died, thereby ending the de facto relationship the parent and stepparent had.

Call Vanessa Ash and Associates for advice on where you stand legally.