Old Boy vs. Poor Old Mother

An old boy from a prestigious Sydney School who sued his mother for a share in his grandfathers $5.5 million estate has been slammed by Supreme Court Judge Justice Michael Pembroke for having a “highly developed and an unhealthy sense of entitlement”.

Robert Wilcox and his younger brother Benjamin were furious when their mother received their late grandfather’s rural estate. Rather than wait for events to run their natural course the men decided to sue their mother.

Despite being giving a head start in life including his privileged tuition at the King’s School in Parramatta, Mr Wilcox foolishly assumed that he would inherit his grandfather’s estate.

The Court heard that at the time of the hearing Mr Wilcox was living in a garage and had virtually no assets to his name.

Justice Pembroke believed that “Mr Wilcox was entirely responsible for the position he now finds himself” and was doubtful that he had ever been sufficiently motivated to work under the inevitability that both him and his brother would be heirs to their grandfather’s fortune.

Justice Pembroke also noted that the grandsons had given virtually no consideration to what should happen to their mother and had essentially claimed everything from their grandfather’s estate.

Mr Wilcox‘s evidence included his belief that he would be able to secure work in the mining industry where he stated he would be “lucky to earn $100,000 net”. He also stated that in his estimations he could make a living close to $2.5 million per year running the family’s rural estate.

Justice Pembroke found that there was no evidence to support Mr Wilcox’s claim that he could successfully manage an agricultural business on the family property. The Court was also told that neither of the men had set foot on their grandfather’s property since 2004.

Despite this Justice Pembroke found Mr Wilcox was entitled to receive some money. He whole heartedly rejected his claim for $1.1 million but made orders that he be paid $107,000 to clear tax debts and seven annual instalments of $40,000.