Published: | Updated:
A judge has compared an Australian couple's extraordinary marriage to the enduring love story immortalised in The Notebook while deciding a bitter inheritance dispute in the NSW Supreme Court.
asserted
judge → publish → Court
The unusual judgment begins not with legal technicalities but with Nicholas Sparks' famous tale of Noah and Allie, in which an elderly husband reads from a notebook to his wife as her memory fades.
asserted
memory → begin → wife
More than half a world away from the novel's North Carolina setting, Justice Michael Meek said another love story had unfolded in Murwillumbah, northern NSW, between Victor and Ivy 'Dolly' Wade, who married in 1947.
asserted
who → say → 1947
That same year, Victor's will declared one of its purposes was 'providing the most appropriate care for my loving wife'.
asserted
one → declare → wife
Victor died in November 2023 aged 96, leaving an estate worth about $3.8million, largely made up of property in Murwillumbah.
asserted
Victor → die → Murwillumbah
His wife, Ivy, had died about 22 months earlier.
asserted
wife → die → ?
But Victor's decision to have his will drawn up by his nephew Edward, a retired schoolteacher with no formal legal training, using a template he found through Google, would later spark a major family dispute.
asserted
he → draw → dispute
The homemade will left the remainder of Victor's estate to his daughter Dianne McKenney, but immediately after the gift contained the prominently formatted words: 'FOR THE PURPOSE OF – Providing the most appropriate care for my loving wife Ivy Doris WADE…'
But Ivy died before her husband - and Victor's sons Richard and Paul argued those words meant the remaining estate was held for the specific purpose of caring for their mother.
asserted
estate → leave → mother
Victor and Ivy Wade are pictured
Dianne McKenney pictured with her mother Ivy (Dolly) Wade
asserted
Victor → picture → mother
With Ivy gone, they argued, that purpose could no longer be fulfilled and the gift had failed, meaning the law rather than Victor's will should determine who inherited the remaining estate.
uncertain
who → go → estate
Dianne disagreed, maintaining her father intended her to inherit the remainder of his estate outright.
asserted
her → disagree → estate
Her position was also consistent with an earlier will Victor had made in 2014, which left his entire estate to Ivy but provided that if she died before him, the estate would instead go to Dianne.
asserted
estate → make → Dianne
She also asked the court, as an alternative, to correct the wording of the will to better reflect what she argued her father intended.
asserted
father → ask → will
The court heard Dianne had cared for her mother for 'all of her adult life'.
asserted
Dianne → hear → life
Victor's nephew Edward also claimed his uncle had explained why he wanted Dianne to receive the bulk of his estate.
asserted
Dianne → claim → estate
According to Edward, Victor said: 'Dianne has been looking after me and her mother for a very long time and has done a lot more than I realised, long before her mother got sick...
uncertain
mother → accord → more
I couldn't have gotten a better daughter.'
asserted
I → get → daughter
Edward also claimed that Victor told him: 'I have given the boys plenty over the years and they haven't needed for anything.
asserted
they → claim → anything
They now lead their own lives and have done well.'
asserted
They → lead → lives
Gary Wade is pictured
Victor Wade's will is pictured
asserted
will → picture → ?
Victor ultimately left each of his three sons, Richard, Gary and Paul, $5,000 each.
asserted
Victor → leave → 5,000
He also prepared letters explaining his decisions, saying he had already provided significantly for the three men during his lifetime.
asserted
he → prepare → lifetime
In a letter to Dianne, Victor wrote that he had provided for her three brothers and had therefore left her financially provided for 'for the work, care, & support you have provided your mother and myself over our lifetime'.
asserted
you → write → lifetime
Paul's son, Sean Wade, 41, was left nothing in his grandfather's will, with Victor allegedly expressing a particularly dim view of his grandson.
uncertain
Victor → leave → grandson
Edward claimed Victor had said of Sean: 'He's been more trouble than he's worth to Dolly and me.'
asserted
he → claim → Dolly
A note prepared for Sean stated: 'This letter is to inform you that I have not provided you anything in my last will and testament.
asserted
I → prepare → will
I've provided free Board and Lodging when you were left with me and my wife when you're younger.
asserted
you → provide → me
You have not in any way provided in any contribution to my assets.
asserted
You → provide → assets
However, Edward's evidence about his conversations with Victor came under significant scrutiny during the proceedings and its reliability was challenged.
asserted
reliability → come → proceedings
The court battle erupted around the first anniversary of Victor's death.
asserted
battle → erupt → death
Within two days, Richard, Paul and Paul's son Sean each launched family provision claims against the estate.
uncertain
Richard → launch → estate
Dianne subsequently commenced her own proceedings on December 20, 2024, seeking to have her father's will formally recognised by the court.
asserted
will → commence → court
Justice Meek noted the curious relationship between Wade family milestones and the litigation, with the hearing of the separate dispute even falling on Dianne's 70th birthday.
asserted
hearing → note → birthday
Richard's family provision claim was later discontinued, while the judgment indicates other litigation remained unresolved.
Justice Meek ultimately ruled in Dianne's favour on the central dispute, finding she was entitled to the remainder of her father's estate outright.
He rejected the argument that the gift had failed and that those assets should instead pass under intestacy laws.
uncertain
assets → discontinue → laws
The estate was ordered to pay Dianne's legal costs on an indemnity basis.
asserted
estate → order → basis
In another unusual flourish, Justice Meek observed that homemade wills 'notoriously provide courts with challenges regarding construction', noting they frequently contain imprecise language and colloquialisms.
asserted
they → observe → language
Victor's estate included his Murwillumbah home, valued at $1million, another block of land valued at $2.725million, about $60,000 worth of farm equipment, Telstra shares, a Bendigo Bank retirement account and a Toyota Camry valued at just $500.
asserted
estate → include → 500
The second block of land had apparently featured in another of Victor's ambitions.
asserted
block → feature → ambitions
Edward claimed his uncle had spoken for decades about using it for a 'Pensioner Project', telling him: 'if I am able, I want to build housing units solely for pensioners there on the block as no one looks after pensioners.'
asserted
one → claim → pensioners
Despite determining the dispute over the meaning of Victor's will, Justice Meek acknowledged the decision might not bring the Wade family's broader legal battles to an end.
'
uncertain
decision → determine → end
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
