A bitter legal dispute over a will erupted after a beauty queen died and allowed her partner to live indefinitely in her $12 million home.
Gail Margaret Thelen, who represented Australia as a teenager at the Miss World pageant in London in 1974, died at the age of 65 while seriously ill in hospital on April 27, 2021.
Thelen had made three wills since 2014 before making the fourth and final will a week before his death.
Her last will allowed her partner Steven Rundle Bone, 74, to live for life in their home in Clontarf, on Sydney’s northern beaches, and also gave him $1 million.
Thelen’s brother, Paul Petith, challenged the will and took legal action before the New South Wales Supreme Court, which handed down its decision in December.
Judge Ian Pike ruled that his third will, which was made in 2019, should apply and that there was no reason why the Clontarf property should not be sold.
The 2019 will gave Bone $1 million and a one-third stake in a multimillion-dollar trust that distributes income to him, Petith and a third beneficiary every quarter for 20 years.
Judge Pike estimated the trust was worth $19 million, a figure that included the sale of the Clontarf property.
Gail Margaret Thelen, who represented Australia as a teenager at the Miss World pageant in London in 1974, died at the age of 65 while seriously ill in hospital on April 27, 2021.
Her last will allowed her partner Steven Rundle Bone, 74, to live for life in their home in Clontarf, on Sydney’s northern beaches, and also gave him $1 million.
“If this generates a 5 percent return, the annual income will be approximately $960,000 and Mr. Bone’s share in the order of $320,000,” he said.
Judge Pike noted that Ms Thelen’s mental health and cognition “declined significantly” between 2019 and 2021.
He said he was “not affirmatively satisfied that Gail had capacity at the time of making the 2021 will or knew and approved of the contents.”
Judge Pike said Bone appeared to have been “the driving force” behind Thelen changing his will and that the changes benefited him most, however he was “not satisfied that undue influence had been exercised” on his part.
‘Gail and Mr Bone’s relationship lasted just over six years. “It was certainly a loving and caring relationship that included each person caring for the other,” he said.
‘(Ms Thelen) was very supportive of Mr Bone financially, particularly in the latter period of their relationship.
“(He) can easily afford, with his own existing assets and by receiving, purchasing or renting suitable accommodation on Sydney’s North Shore (corresponding) to his position in life, if that is what he wants to do.”
The couple met while Thelen was on a cruise from Barcelona to Singapore that Bone was working on, teaching estate planning and wealth management courses to guests.
The $12 million Clontarf house in Sydney’s north was the centerpiece of the legal battle over his will.
They “quickly formed a romantic relationship” and Bone extended his time on the cruise to spend more time with his new interest after moving into his stateroom for the remainder.
Judge Pike noted that under the 2021 will Bone would have received “the right to live for life in the Clontarf property or indeed in an alternative home using much of the sale price of the Clontarf property, or rent.” of it, to buy/rent alternative housing.
Mrs Thelen died of aspiration pneumonia, ovarian cancer and severe long-term alcohol abuse.