John Armfield
Barrister and Mediator
John specialises in estate litigation. He has been listed in Doyle’s Guide as a pre-eminent junior counsel in Wills and Estates Litigation in 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2015.
He regularly acts as a mediator with respect to family provision claims.
Regularly advising and appearing for plaintiffs and estates in relation to matters in the Equity Division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, John has extensive experience also representing clients at mediations and informal settlement conferences.
His practice has a strong emphasis on probate, family provision applications and will construction. He has also appeared in applications seeking a review of orders allowing commission to executors.
John regularly presents papers at legal conferences in relation to wills and succession law and was recently a keynote speaker for the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), of which he is a member, in Hobart.
Court-appointed Mediator
Admitted to the Bar (New South Wales): 1983
Accredited by the NSW Bar Association as a mediator under the National Mediator Accreditation System
Equity & Trusts
Family Provision
Mediation / ADR
Succession / Wills & Probate
Member, New South Wales Bar Association
Member, Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners
Sir Ninian Stephen Lecture: 2018
2014: Professional Negligence and Will Making, Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners
John has also presented numerous papers on the following topics:
Statutory Wills
Undue Influence and Coercion in Wills
Applications for Family Provision Orders
Judicial Advice in Estate Dispute Matters
Informal Wills – A Cross-Jurisdictional Companion
How to Get the Best Results in Inheritance Mediation
Professional Negligence and Will Making
Beneficiaries and Estate Administration
Contested Probate Matters in Practice
Testamentary Capacity
Competing Claims
Establishing Capacity when Capacity is in Issue
Notional Estate Disputes in current cases
The Pursuit of Justice
Re Estate Gowing; Application for Executor’s Commission [2014] NSWSC 247 – application for executor’s commission
Kastrounis v Foundouradakis [2012] NSWSC 264 – family provision-related property transactions
Hawkins v Barkley-Brown [2010] NSWSC 48 – application for executor’s commission
Scott v Scott [2009] NSWSC 567 – family provisions case
Sleboda v Sleboda [2008] NSWCA 122 – unconscionable conduct
CONTACT
+61 2 9232 8803
+61 2 9223 8018
[email protected]