{"id":331621,"date":"2026-03-16T02:14:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T02:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/331621\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T02:14:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T02:14:20","slug":"son-forced-to-pay-56000-over-late-mothers-property-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/331621\/","title":{"rendered":"Son forced to pay $56,000 over late mother\u2019s property"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Amber<\/p>\n

March 15, 2026 \u2014 11:13am<\/p>\n

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Twelve years before her death, Margaret Greaves used the NSW government\u2019s free will service, bequeathing all assets to her son, Tony.<\/p>\n

It was a decision that would cost him nearly $60,000.<\/p>\n

Tony had been caring for his mother and her estate for years before her death in December 2025, travelling from Bathurst to southern Sydney to maintain the house and prepare it for sale.<\/p>\n

\"TonyTony Greaves will inherit his mother\u2019s property, which he has been maintaining since she became ill.Steven Siewert<\/p>\n

So when he received a letter from the NSW Trustee and Guardian after her death stating that $56,000 would be taken from the value of the estate, he was shocked.<\/p>\n

\"MargaretMargaret Greaves signed a free will with the NSW government. It will cost her son nearly $60,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother had no idea that 12 years ago such an obscene amount would be taken,\u201d Tony said. She had signed a simple, pre-filled two-page will.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat fee is about 30 times the amount [that an estate lawyer would charge] to fill out four pieces of paper … The whole thing is absolutely insane.\u201d<\/p>\n

The estate will be charged $52,800 for the property plus fees for Margaret\u2019s savings, totalling $56,100.<\/p>\n

The NSW Trustee and Guardian publicly lists its executor\u2019s fees on a sliding scale, charging 2.75 per cent for estates with<\/a> values of more than $1.5 million<\/a>. Greaves\u2019 red brick home in Sylvania was valued at $318,000 in 1999. The Trustee and Guardian now values it at $2.2 million.<\/p>\n

In comparison, the NSW Supreme Court\u2019s guide for an executor\u2019s commission is between 0.25 and 1.25 per cent<\/a> of the value of the asset transfers, and up to 5 per cent on income collection, depending on complexity and circumstances.<\/p>\n

The NSW Trustee and Guardian is the largest will maker in the state, allowing those on age pensions or Centrelink to create wills free and appoint the government as the will\u2019s executor. It holds community sessions and runs stalls at events to help pensioners plan their estates and create wills.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said the fees were regulated by the state parliament and reviewed by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART).<\/p>\n

\"TonyTony Greaves said the fees were too high for the amount of work involved. Steven Siewert<\/p>\n

However, the last IPART review was in 2014, the same year Margaret made her will. Since then, Sydney home values have more than doubled.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson stated fees were widely published and fully disclosed to clients, and that the organisation could waive fees for financial hardship.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Steven<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cNSWTG fees are competitive and comparative to the market. A professional trustee provides the complete executor service for the entire administration of the estate,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

They added that its fees were competitive, providing \u201ccertainty\u201d the estate would be administered legally amid an increase in estate disputes and maladministration resulting in litigation.<\/p>\n

Greaves also raised concerns about a broad clause in the will that allowed the trustee to appropriate \u201cany part\u201d of the estate without the beneficiary\u2019s consent.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson said this power was typical in professional wills to act for minors or those without capacity and ensure tax-effective distribution, noting that executors must act in the best interests of beneficiaries.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"AmberAmber Schultz<\/a> is a crime and justice reporter with The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 15, 2026 \u2014 11:13am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[138,246,111,139,69,244,245],"class_list":["post-331621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}