Billionaire's daughter gets $26.5m from will after claiming in court that $3.2m wasn't enough, Latest Others News - The New Paper
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Billionaire's daughter gets $26.5m from will after claiming in court that $3.2m wasn't enough

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An Australian court awarded A$25 million (S$26.5m) to a billionaire's daughter after she brought a case claiming that the A$3m he left her in his will was not enough.

Given the "colossal" size of the man's estate, the provisions made for her were inadequate, the West Australian Supreme Court’s Master Sanderson said in a judgment published on Thursday.

Mr Michael Wright made his fortune in iron ore mining.

Miss Olivia Mead, 19, was raised by her mother and had only sporadic contact with Mr Wright, although he paid child support and school fees and gave her some pocket money.

She brought the case against the executor of her father’s estate and her two older half-sisters, who the court estimated had each inherited some A$400m.

'Clearly fanciful'

The A$3 million trust that Miss Mead was set to access at age 30 was too unwieldy, Master Sanderson said.

"This structure does not guarantee the plaintiff A$3m. There is a real prospect she might get nothing," he said.

The court awarded her a lump sum of A$25m.

During the trial, Miss Mead had provided an itemised list of costs ranging from a A$2.5m house and A$250,000 for a guitar plus more than A$20,000 a year for the upkeep of pets including a dog, a rabbit, a ferret and an axolotl or Mexican walking fish, according to media reports.

Some of the items, notably the guitar, were "clearly fanciful", Master Sanderson said.

"No one needs a guitar of that value – particularly a 19-year-old girl who is not now and never will be a professional musician."

Source: Reuters

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