QuoteReplyTopic: Defacto wants name on Dads Death Certificate Posted: 20/July/2011 at 06:01
I hope this is the right place to post my question.
I have just been through a lengthy and costly will contest involving my fathers estate and a woman wrongfully claiming to be his de facto. She was given a small legacy from the estate,after originally laying claim to the whole estate, under the new succession act nsw. The judge did not hear any evidence, the case was over with and a settlement made.The lawyers received just over one third of the estate!
The “de facto” had to give evidence regarding her relationship with my father and she bluffed all the way up until the court case, and as the court case started, she found she could not go through with it because she knew I had subpoenaed evidence from Centrelink which revealed she had declared to be single and in receipt of rent assistance about a year before dads death. Their were other things like , tenancy leases, and DVA, bank accounts & DVA documents and there were no intertwining of financials which all stacked up to discredit her claim. Rather than continuing with the case and putting my dads stressed but very willing 85 year old friends on the stand as witnesses, she took an offer. Another piece of evidence is - if she really was his de facto, she would have pressed on with the case.
Fastforward to a month ago. I received by registered mail a letter from Births Deaths & Marriages. This woman now wants to have her name registered on my fathers death certificate as his de facto wife. The reason for this is because she has been trying to apply to DVA to receive a gold card as dad was a veteran, telling DVA she was his “de facto” and supplying stat decs from her friends as evidence. Apparently she needs the death certificate before they can begin to determine if she has a claim or is indeed eligible for the gold card.
Births deaths and marriages have asked me because I was included on the death certificate and the informant, if there is any legal reason she should not be added to the certificate and if so include evidence. I was also told this happens all the time. This woman was a friend of my dads and is not entitled to a goldcard. There is criteria needed by DVA similar to the de facto evidence she needed for the courtcase. I will fight this because she is not dads de facto and the tax payer should not have to pay to keep this woman for the rest of her life. I have a copy of my dads last DVA pension review which states he was single just months before his death. Does anyone know if Births deaths and marriages are involved in the governments cross checking system where they are able to get info from Centrelink and DVA regarding this womans marriage status at the time dad died? This woman attempts for a gold card from a deceased veteran is not only a disgrace, but also deceitful and disrespectful to all veterans. She is nearing retiring age and I know she is pretty lazy and does not want to work. She gave up her well paid job and divested her assets before the courtcase to make herself appear needy. Has anyone out there been through this and if so how did you get on? Because she received a legacy from the estate, would that be regarded as evidence in her favour? Any comments are appreciated – thanks from pidgeycoo, brr brrr coo.
This is a most interesting case to me especially because of my status in the veteran community and my long term in the Oz Army. Additionally is your statement "I had subpoenaed evidence from Centrelink" tell us how difficult was it to obtain this info and what suspicions did you have to go down this path?
Tell her to shove it - the settlement in the your father's estate matter would have been "without admission".
Therefore the Court never ruled on her status as a de facto.
She isn't very bright as to push the DVA issue, she needed a order from the previous proceedings that she was a de facto.
Accepting the settlement and if your lawyers did their job correctly with proper Terms of Settlement, then she can't even raise the proceedings in her application with DVA. (Remember the settlement offer was made as a matter of commerciality and does not constitute any admission by the Defendant.
So she can get lost, stat decs mean nothing in this case as they are a statement of opinion from her friends, not a statement of fact, putting aside the obvious bias.
Ensure you put it in writing to Birth Deaths and Marriages under no circumstances do any of the surviving relatives consent to any alteration to your father's death certificate. Furthermore "her" claim is frivolous and without merit and you reject any and all assertions made on her part.
Also interesting point here, is this not "obtaining a financial benefit by deception" ??
To date she has no proof of any "legal relationship" as determined by a Court of Law.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing...
Thanks lionheart –not only is it interesting, it’s an eye opener. Some of Dads friends from his RSL clubs told me this woman was on the dole, and was a daily visitor to the RSL club. During our case, we subpoenaed documents from centrelink. You can only access this information with permission of the centrelink recipient involved. My solicitor asked her in writing if we could access her centrelink history, this was only weeks before the court case.
The woman involved allowed us this access which made us think she had nothing to hide, we called her bluff and found every time she went on centrelink benefits, she declared to be single, lived in her own apartment, did not declare a partner and received rent assistance. She had a right to refuse our request but didn’t. Now she wants to change to a de facto. You can’t have it both ways. Another good source of evidence was the tax office.
Wellsmorgan by your tone, you sound like you have had a similar experience or are a veteran. Yes the case settled, over and done with, but she wants more. It took her 2 years before she decided to approach DVA, and what really ruffles my feathers, is she is telling DVA she was my fathers de-facto and has lived with him for years and in doing so she is indirectly and disrespectfully saying that my dad was lying to DVA in his personal details regarding his DVA pension. I find this disgusting! Dad is not here to defend himself against such allegations. And yes, it all comes down to facts, they are on paper in black and white. What upsets me more is i was told “someone” will cast judgment on her applications. I was asked by births deaths marriages to provide as evidence on my Dads behalf, copies of any of his utility accounts, bank accounts/ statements and any documents of ownership of his house- all of which were solely in his name.
Is there a department within the DVA I can approach with my evidence? So far I have not heard a word from DVA, I have heard thru dads friends this disgusting woman has applied for the widows pension/goldcard. Would they accept her one-sided evidence, I am curious as to how her application will be determined- surely they would have to direct some sort of enquiry in my direction. Should I take it upon myself to contact them before its too late? There are privacy laws these days and because its about her application they may not want to hear what I have to say.
Thank you for your comments, I’ll keep you posted. –pidgeycooo coo
EDITED: to remove the upper-case post, (please do not post in all upper-case, it makes it very hard to read).
Sorry MartinO- I posted without my glasses on so used upper-case to see what I was writing.Thanks for the correction, I have read somewhere that upper-case in forums is sometimes interpreted as yelling. While Im here - WellsMorgan, I have done as you suggested and wrote to BDM's today. What you wrote revved me up a bit and ruffled my feathers somewhat. I also wrote to DVA as well and told them the other side of the story as Im sure she would not have divulged the truth or outcome of the courtcase and of course, I offered ideas of where to investigate, ie Centrelink etc.- true facts in black and white.They will see this fraudster for what she is and dismiss her claim.
Thanks again for your comments- pidgeycooo brrr coo
Hi everyone, I’m posting to let you know I think I’ve had a slight win.
I would like to thank Lionheart for your interest, and WellsMorgan for ruffling my feathers enough to press on with this matter.
As previously posted, I mentioned I had made contact with DVA regarding a woman claiming to be my war vet. Father’s de facto wife, so she could receive a gold card and a widows pension. ( she was clearly not my fathers de facto!)
A DVA investigator told me for privacy reasons I could not be told the outcome but did say he was very interested in what I had to say, and told me my evidence against her was extremely helpful in his decision making, and also told me she has the right to appeal any decision made. I asked what happens if her claim was rejected and she appealed it. He said it’s a long process with many hurdles to jump and most of the time the people who have been knocked back don’t persue it to the appeal stage. He also told me if an appeal is lodged, a independent body re-assesses the rejected claim, and I will be contacted for my opinion concerning the claim/appeal. I was advised if there was an appeal, to submit the same evidence I used previously. ( the main evidence against her was to tell the investigator to cross check information from Centrelink, ATO and tenancy records during the period she claimed to be in a alleged de facto relationship with my father.)
I have heard from a couple of dads friends and she has told people her claim was unsuccessful.
There is one thing I don’t understand about this, -When someone makes a claim/ application to DVA like this, isn’t it recognised as attempted fraud, or would it be attempted fraud if she succeeded with her claim first, then after the fact, I submitted evidence which proved she was not in a de facto relationship?
Thanks for your input will keep you posted. – Pidgeycoo brrrbrrr coo
There is one thing I don’t understand about this, -When someone makes a claim/ application to DVA like this, isn’t it recognised as attempted fraud, or would it be attempted fraud if she succeeded with her claim first, then after the fact, I submitted evidence which proved she was not in a de facto relationship?
Attempted fraud is unlikely to be pursued if reported IMO. If she had been receiving payments on the other hand, then it should be pursued in the same vigorous manner as any other social security fraud is. DVA would need to refer it to the DPP for prosecution.
Any opinion given should not be accepted as legal advice.
Please post your legal questions in a forum rather than sending a PM. Thanks
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While Im here - WellsMorgan, I have done as you suggested and wrote to BDM's today. What you wrote revved me up a bit and ruffled my feathers somewhat. I also wrote to DVA as well and told them the other side of the story as Im sure she would not have divulged the truth or outcome of the courtcase and of course, I offered ideas of where to investigate, ie Centrelink etc.- true facts in black and white.They will see this fraudster for what she is and dismiss her claim.
