Christopher O’Connor
Director
Christopher O’Connor was admitted to the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2007. Christopher took control of the firm in 2016 from his father, who was the Director of the firm for 35 years.
Christopher advises his clients in relation to a broad range of estate matters including:
- Estate planning (including wills and testamentary trusts)
- Estate administration (including advising executors, administrators and beneficiaries)
- Contentious and non-contentious estate litigation (including family provision applications, solemn form proceedings, interpretation or rectification of wills)
- Guardianship and administration matters (including enduring powers of attorney, proceedings at the QCAT and advice to attorneys, guardians and administrators in relation to the exercise of their powers)
- Superannuation disputes.
Christopher understands the importance of community. He was recently appointed chairperson for a local community group where he successfully lobbied both state and local governments to transfer a $15 million parcel of state government-owned land, planned for development by a local government to be used by the community for parkland. It took Christopher over 3 years to complete, with many meetings and facilitating negotiations with both sides of government to successfully have the parcel of land transferred for the community’s benefit.
When Christopher is not helping his clients plan their futures, he and his wife of 10 years, Fiona, are running after their three young children.
Notable Cases
Estate Litigation
Client problem
The decease’s de facto spouse was not named as a beneficiary of her husbands very large estate. The deceased’s child form his first marriage controlled and received the estate.
Outcome achieved
Chris instituted proceedings in the Supreme Court for further provision from the estate for the spouse. Chris worked tirelessly to obtain all the necessary evidence to maximise her claim and was able to resolve the claim prior to a trial. She was awarded almost $7 million dollars, the biggest of any reported judgments in Australia.
What the client said
“Chris and the team were amazing to work with. I knew we were going to have a hard battle, but Chris quickly got up to speed and implemented a strategy to maxamise my claim. He was professional, courteous, compassionate, easy to talk to and could explain everything clearly that I could understand. At no stage did he take a backwards step and im so glad he was in my corner. He is a market leader and could not recommend him highly enough.
Testamentary Capacity
Client problem
A family member of the deceased was concerned about the validity of two wills prepared by a solicitor because he said the deceased did not have capacity. The outcome of the issue would determine who received the multi million dollar estate.
Outcome achieved
Chris and his team were required to interview a number of witnesses and trawl through thousands of pages of medial records to gather the necessary evidence to prove to the court the deceased did not have the requisite capacity to make a will. Chris instituted proceedings in the Supreme Court. Despite the claim being fiercely defended, the evidence we gathers was overwhelming and court agreed to set aside the wills and institute of client as executor and sole beneficiary of his large estate.
What the client said
“I knew the matter required attention to detail, resilience and persistence. Chris and his team were brilliant in prosecuting the claim for the best possible outcome. He was across all the material (and there was a lot of it) and communicated with me every step of the matter. He was professional from start to finish, and I can’t recommend him highly enough.
Testamentary Capacity
Client problem
Chris’s clients father remarried. His new wife also had children from a previous marriage. They had wills that left everything to each other and then on death of both of them, to their children and step-children equally. When our clients father died, his estate passed to his wife (our clients step mother). Shortly thereafter, she changed her will to exclude our client and her siblings.
Outcome achieved
Chris successfully applied for the court to make a successful family provision claim against the estate. Despite some very difficult personalities, he mange to achieve a great outcome for the client, that all by resorted his clients fathers original intentions.
What the client said
“I was almost not going to bring the claim given the personalities involved. Chris and his team handled all the communication so I did not have to speak or be involved with anyone involved. There were responsive, professional and made the process a lot less daunting than I ever expected. It was a pleasure to work with Chris and glad I made the decision to make the claim.
