- 4.8 ⭐ 150+ Reviews
Estate Litigation Lawyers on the Central Coast
More than a will. Powers of attorney, guardianship, superannuation and the structures that decide what happens if you cannot make decisions yourself.
- Estate disputes are a primary practice area, not a sideline
- Tony Ryan holds a Master of Applied Law in Wills and Estates
- Toukley and Erina offices, members of the NSW Law Society Professional Standards Scheme
Estate Planning Is More Than Just a Will
Most people think estate planning is about what happens after they die. Half of it is about what happens while they are still here but no longer able to make their own decisions. That is the part families get caught by: someone has a stroke or a dementia diagnosis, nobody holds a power of attorney, and the house that needs to be sold to fund aged care cannot be touched. What follows is a tribunal application, months of delay, and cost that a single appointment years earlier would have avoided.
That is what proper planning prevents. Ryan & Ryan builds estate plans for families across the Central Coast that cover both ends: who decides about your money and your care if you cannot, what happens to your superannuation, and how your assets pass without handing your family an argument.
Because our firm also runs contested estates, we plan for what actually goes wrong, and where it helps we will sit down with the family so decisions are understood while everyone is still around to discuss them.
Why People Bring Us Their Estate Disputes
Other solicitors send us this work. Firms across the Coast that handle conveyancing, family and general practice refer contested estates to Tony Ryan rather than run them in-house. That referral pattern is the clearest signal we can point to.
The depth is real. Tony holds a Master of Applied Law in Wills and Estates, and the firm also does the underlying probate, estate administration and will drafting. We know how these files are built, which makes it easier to see where one is weak.
We are honest about the numbers early. Estate litigation costs money and can erode the very estate you are arguing over. If a claim is not worth running, or the estate is too small to justify the fight, we will tell you at the first meeting rather than three months in.
Estate Litigation Matters We Handle
- Contesting a will
- Challenging the validity of a will
- Executor and beneficiary representation
- Out-of-time claims and extensions
- Testamentary capacity and undue influence arguments
- Disputes over how an executor is administering an estate
- Claims involving blended families and second marriages
- Mediation of estate disputes
- probate and deceased estates
How We Build Your Estate Plan
1. Get in touch
(02) 4397 1500 or book a time. Come with a rough list of what you own, including super, and who is in the picture.
2. First consultation
We work through your assets, your family, your health and what you are worried about, and identify what is currently unprotected.
3. A clear plan and price
You get a plain-English recommendation covering the will, attorney and guardian appointments, super and anything structural, with reasons.
4. We get it done
We prepare everything, walk you through it, and handle the signing properly. Then we can store the originals.
Estate Litigation Across the Central Coast
What Our Clients Say
Reviews from people we’ve acted for, across business, property, estate and family matters.
Estate Litigation FAQs
Only people in the categories set out in the Succession Act 2006 (NSW). That includes spouses and de facto partners, children, former spouses, and certain dependants and household members. Being eligible is only the first hurdle: you also have to show the will did not make adequate provision for you. More on our contesting a will page.
In NSW, a family provision claim must generally be filed within twelve months of the date of death. It is a real deadline and it moves quickly while a family is grieving. If it has already passed, an extension is sometimes possible, which we cover on our out-of-time claims page.
Sometimes. That is a different argument from a family provision claim. It goes to whether the will is valid at all, on grounds such as the will-maker lacking testamentary capacity, being unduly influenced, or the document not being properly signed and witnessed. See challenging the validity of a will.
Get advice before you distribute anything. Distributing an estate while a claim is on foot can expose you personally. Your job is to act for the estate, not to take sides, and we can act for you in that role. See executor and beneficiary representation.
Most estate disputes do not reach a final hearing. They resolve through negotiation or at mediation, which the court will usually require in any event. We prepare the matter properly regardless, because a well-prepared file is what makes the other side move.
There is a common belief that the estate always pays. It does not always, and costs can follow the result. Anyone telling you a claim is risk-free on costs is overselling it.
It depends on the size of the estate, the number of claimants, and how reasonable the other side is. We charge for the first consultation and use it to give you a realistic view of cost against likely benefit. If the maths does not work, we will say so.
Put your estate plan in place while the decisions are still yours.
One appointment covers the will, the powers of attorney and the questions you have been putting off.