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Badenach v Calvert

[2016] HCA 18
Judgment date
Case number
H12/2015
Before
French CJ, Kiefel, Gageler, Keane, Gordon JJ
Catchwords

Negligence – Duty of care – Scope of duty of care – Where solicitor received instructions from testator to prepare a will – Where entirety of testator's estate was to pass to respondent – Where testator's daughter brought successful proceedings under Testator's Family Maintenance Act 1912 (Tas) ("TFM Act") for provision out of testator's estate – Whether duty of care owed by solicitor to testator extended to advising testator of possible steps to avoid exposing testator's estate to a claim under TFM Act.

Negligence – Duty of care – Existence of duty of care – Whether solicitor owed duty of care to intended beneficiary under testator's will – Whether Hill v Van Erp (1997) 188 CLR 159 applied – Whether interests of testator coincident with interests of intended beneficiary.

Negligence – Causation – Whether, but for solicitor's failure to give advice, respondent would have received entirety of testator's estate – Whether relevant loss is a loss of chance.

Words and phrases – "coincident", "duty of care", "interests of the intended beneficiary", "interests of the testator", "loss of a chance", "testamentary intention".

Civil Liability Act 2002 (Tas) – s 13(1)(a).

Testator's Family Maintenance Act 1912 (Tas).

Files
18.rtf (288.19 KB)
18.pdf (193.81 KB)