Fifteen years after Violet Tata died, the High Court ordered recovery of estate assets wrongly handed over to a grandson.
Violet Tata died in 2008. Her only major asset was the family home. It was over a decade later that a sale was considered. In the interim, a relative occupied the house.
By this time, Violet’s daughter Donna was the remaining surviving executor.
The High Court was told of a family conference in August 2019 agreeing the house should be sold to a relative, keeping the property in hands of whanau; a Maori tradition. Whanau were invited to make offers. An offer at $760,000 from Donna’s son Joseph was the best offer made.
There was evidence the property then had a market value of about one million dollars. Lawyers acting for Violet’s estate recommended to Donna that all beneficiaries should sign a deed of family arrangement agreeing that Joseph could buy at less than market value. Donna did not take up the suggestion; whanau had agreed, she said.
Beneficiaries later learnt that not only had Joseph purchased at below market value, but Donna had given him $300,000 cash from Violet’s estate.
Joseph defaulted on a loan secured over his new purchase, resulting in a mortgagee sale. Whanau lost the family home. Joseph was set to receive $164,000 after repayment of the mortgage and forced sale costs.
Justice Whata ruled both Donna and son Joseph were liable to return the $300,000 gift to Violet’s estate. The $164,000 surplus held by the mortgagee’s solicitors also goes to Violet’s estate, he ruled.
Donna was in breach of her duties to beneficiaries by selling at an undervalue and wrongly gifting cash; Joseph at the time was aware of his mother’s wrongdoing.
The court was told Donna died in September 2023. Administrators previously appointed to oversee management of Violet’s estate were instructed to deduct from any inheritance going to Donna’s estate that part of the $300,000 gift ordered repaid which Joseph fails to repay.
Neither Donna’s estate nor Joseph appeared in court to defend the claim.
re Estate of Violet Tata – High Court (27.11.13)
24.018