Justice after 42 years in court marathon
Few lived to see the end of an exhausting court battle, writes Kim Arlington.
It was Bleak House played out in the NSW Supreme Court, with an inheritance dispute that dragged on for so long, many potential beneficiaries never lived to see it resolved.
Grant MacDonald is one of the few still standing.
After fighting a three-year court case while also battling cancer, the pensioner finally secured a share of his great aunt’s estate – 42 years after she died.
Can you trust a Public Trustee
Last year the NSW Government changed the name of The Public Trustee to NSW Trustee & Guardian but I will refer to it as The Public Trustee. A change of name just does not cut it for me. According to its own publicity The Public Trustee has been helping the people of NSW for 95 years. There is one family that might argue otherwise.
MacDonald v Public Trustee [2010] NSWSC 684
(17) The first is the failure of the Public Trustee for a period of more than forty years to carry out its statutory obligation to administer the estate of the Deceased and to distribute the assets of the estate for the benefit of those persons entitled thereto…The situation which is revealed by the incompetence and possible misappropriation and dishonesty in the office of the Public Trustee is a very serious matter, which cannot be overlooked by the Court, or by those public authorities which have the responsibility for overseeing the Public Trustee and the administration of its office.
