My parent left everything to one child — what can I do in Queensland?

Being left out is not enough on its own

The test is whether adequate provision has been made for your proper maintenance and support — judged against your circumstances, not against your siblings' share. A financially comfortable adult child who receives nothing may still fail; a child in genuine need who receives a token gift may succeed.

The court is not there to produce equality. It is there to correct inadequate provision.

What actually moves the outcome

In practice the same handful of factors decide these matters:

• Your financial position — income, assets, debts, health, dependants and earning capacity
• The size of the estate — a modest estate cannot satisfy everyone
• Contributions you made to the parent's assets, business, home or care
• The competing needs of the sibling who inherited
• Gifts or financial help you received during the parent's lifetime
• Any written reasons the parent gave for the disposition
• The nature of the relationship, including estrangement and who caused it

The caring child, and the estranged child

Where one child moved in, gave up work, or cared for a parent for years, an unequal will may be entirely defensible — and the caring child is often the one defending it. Evidence of that care matters as much as evidence of need.

Estrangement cuts both ways. Courts look at why the relationship broke down. Estrangement caused by the parent's own conduct rarely defeats a claim; a long, unexplained withdrawal by the child can.

What to do first

Get a copy of the will and find out whether probate has issued. Work out the date of death and diarise the six and nine month deadlines. Write to the executor before you write to your sibling — these matters get harder once the family has taken sides publicly.

Most of these claims settle at mediation, often within the estate's own funds, and the ones that settle early preserve both the estate and what is left of the family relationship.

Frequently asked questions