My husband’s one mistake threw my life into disarray after he died of cancer
A grieving woman whose partner died suddenly of cancer has issued a powerful warning to millions of Australians after discovering the love of her life never penned a will.
Ajanta Judd spent a year locked in a bitter legal battle with her late partner Peter’s four kids over his estate when he died in 2017 after a short battle with an aggressive cancer.
“He was a bit of a procrastinator, he kept saying ‘I must do my will, I must do my will’,” she recalled of her late partner to news.com.au.
“He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in January and died in March, and he kept saying it … even as he went through the dying process. But it didn’t happen.”
When Peter died, Judd was left to deal with the “aftermath” alone, including packing up their Philip Island home – where the couple lived for 18 months – and figuring out how to complete the remainder of a book showcasing the late anthropologist’s life’s work, as she promised.
Peter had four adult children from two previous relationships, three in the United States and one in Melbourne.
Despite not formalizing a will, Judd claims she spoke with Peter’s adult children about the wishes he shared for her “to have this, that and the other” of his “little” assets before his death.
She claimed the eldest daughter promised they would “look after” her.
Then months into her grieving, Judd was thrown into a “traumatic” legal battle over Peter’s estate when his Melbourne son applied for Letters of Administration.
Letters of Administration is the approval granted to a deceased person’s closest living next of kin by the Supreme Court that allows them to decide who inherits what when there is no will.
“I found out I wasn’t entitled to anything, because we weren’t together long enough,” Judd said.
“When Peter died we’d been together just under two years; and, in Victoria, if you’ve been in a relationship less than two years you’re not entitled to anything.
“Once you hit two years you can be de facto and you’re entitled to what you would be if you’re married.”
What followed was a year-long legal battle for Judd, during which she had to prove their relationship was real.
“I had to go through months and months of documents, download all of our photos, social media, cards, statutory declarations from friends … pages and pages of evidence on how far our relationship went back,” she said.
“I had to bare my soul. It felt like grieving all over again for someone who loved you and validated you, and you’re not being taken seriously.
In the end, Judd gave up the fight and walked away with $63,000 [approximately $40,000 USD] of Peter’s $240,000 estate [$153, 194 USD] – $25,000 [approximately $16,000 USD] of which went to legal fees, and $10,000 [$6,383 USD] went to a barrister.
She ended up with about 10 percent of the total estate.
Judd has since planned her own will to avoid history repeating and she wants all Australians to take action on end-of-life planning.
