13 August 2021
Property settlement - Survivorship when a party dies
If a party who owns real estate jointly dies during proceedings, do the proceedings stop the survivorship process until an order has been made?
Thank you for the question.
No.
If a party to proceedings dies the court may order that the legal personal representative of the deceased be substituted for the deceased as a party: r 6.15 of the Family Law Rules 2004.
Note that the court still has power to make orders in relation to the property: s 79(8) of the Family Law Act 1975.
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