Dear DD,
Family Provision Act claims
If a person dies and leaves out a person from their will (say spouse or child or other financially dependent person) then the excluded person may make a claim on the estate under the Family Provisions Act (State based legislation).

This is difficult to do and any claim is limited in the maximum amount that can be claimed. The clause XX in the BFAs says that each of the parties agrees that they WILL NOT MAKE A CLAIM on the other party’s estate if they pass away during the life of the BFA. They word it by saying that “each releases their rights to make an application to the estate of the other….”.

If these clauses were excluded, then it may invite claims on the estate of the deceased for spurious reasons. Defending those claims is expensive and emotionally draining on the beneficiaries of the deceased party.

Kind regards,