A grave matter of title

Published in Coffs Coast News of the Area on 9 October 2026.

After separating from Gordon, Dot is intent on building a life for herself and their son, Charlie. She works full time and a few years later, sets her sights on a home of their own.

Dot can manage the repayments but convincing the bank to lend enough is another matter.

Gordon agrees to help, and the house is purchased in both their names as joint tenants. His contribution ends there.

Gordon never lives in the property or pays the mortgage. Dot pays the mortgage off herself and makes the place distinctly her own.

Meanwhile, Gordon becomes an increasingly occasional presence. By Charlie’s teenage years, contact is largely confined to occasions when his signature is needed, including for passports and the discharge of the mortgage.

Eventually, those appearances stop.

Gordon disappears from family life but his name does not disappear from the title.

When Dot dies decades later, nobody knows whether Gordon is alive. If he died first, Dot became sole owner. If Dot died first, Gordon did.

Extensive searches find no trace of Gordon. The Court presumes him dead and grants Charlie administration of his estate.

That presumption establishes Gordon is dead, but not when. His long absence is insufficient to find that he died before Dot.

As the younger, Gordon would ordinarily be treated as having survived her. However, previous cases disagree on whether that rule can be used when a person is presumed dead but their date of death is unknown.

The Court therefore makes no finding about who died first and cannot determine which estate receives the house.

Alternatively, the Court finds the evidence could justify treating Gordon’s interest as held for Dot, who paid for the house herself.

Ultimately, neither pathway needs resolving. Charlie is the only child entitled to both estates. The Court grants him administration of each and he inherits the house regardless of who died first.

Thank you to Ellysha Laklem for her assistance with this column.

If you have a request for a Hypothetical, call Manny Wood on (02) 66 487 487 or email [email protected].

This fictional column is not legal advice.