A judge has unleashed on a Sydney woman who drained her grandmother’s life savings shortly before her death – and then left the 93-year-old’s multi-million dollar home ‘uninhabitable’.
Justine Bosschieter, a 53-year-old National Disability Insurance Scheme worker, sued over her grandmother’s inheritance in the NSW Supreme Court, in an action that badly backfired on her.
It resulted in Ms Bosschieter being ordered to repay $200,000 she took from her relative, and pay for the damage done to the deceased’s home in Forestville while she was living there.
The legal drama began when the grandmother’s Forestville home was sold for $2.85million in the wake of her death, with the assets to be divided in equal shares to her four children and one of her grandchildren.
Ms Bosschieter wanted a larger chunk.
She had been living at the Forestville property with the deceased and acting as her caregiver at the time of her death.
Ms Bosschieter received a regular carer’s pension from Centrelink for caring for her grandmother and paid ‘significantly reduced rent’ of $200 per week.
But in November 2021, during Covid restrictions, Ms Bosschieter drove her grandmother with her oxygen tank, which she used to assist her breathing, to a bank branch.
Ms Bosschieter was living at the property with the deceased and acting as her caregiver at the time of the $200,000 gift, according to a decision from NSW Supreme Court
Justine Bosschieter, a 53-year-old NDIS worker, left the property in Forestville so damaged and full of rubbish that the repair and clean-up cost $55,000
The grandmother transferred more than $200,000, her ‘life savings,’ from a term deposit account to Ms Bosschieter’s personal account.
The elderly woman had experienced mental decline in the months beforehand and did not have legal advice about the transfer, the decision said.
‘The deceased was physically and emotionally dependent upon Justine who was her gatekeeper to the outside world.’
Two of the deceased’s children gave evidence that she had always expressed her intention to leave the term deposit to her four children equally, which the court accepted.
‘The Court does not accept Justine’s evidence that the deceased spontaneously wanted her to have the $200,000,’ Justice Slattery said.
The grandmother caught Covid at the home in January 2022 and died a month later from Covid-related pneumonitis.
‘Someone brought the infection into the house, and it may be inferred that there was insufficient control within the house to protect her,’ the judge said.
The money from the deposit was then ‘withdrawn rapidly,’ within about four months of the death.
It cost the estate $55,000 to clean up the Forestville property, which was sold in February for $2.85 million
Ms Bosschieter gave most of the $200,000 to her children, though some of it was also spent at ‘licensed venues,’ Justice Slattery said
Ms Bosschieter’s explanation was she gave most of it to her children, which the court accepted, ‘although there was other personal discretionary expenditure undertaken with the funds, some of it at licensed venues’.
In the deceased’s final will, made in March 2021, she left one fifth of her estate to Ms Bosschieter, with the rest distributed equally among her four children.
It also granted Ms Bosschieter the right of first refusal to acquire the Forestville property.
But in February 2023, Ms Bosschieter commenced court proceedings seeking ‘further provision from the deceased’s estate’.
She was seeking the provision so that she could ‘buy her own home, buy a good quality second-hand car, top up her savings account with the contingency for future unplanned expenses of $250,000, and top up her superannuation in the sum of $150,000, and provide a fund for future medical expenses of $100,000’.
She ignored letters from the deceased’s estate, executed by one of the deceased’s sons, asking when she would vacate the Forestville property.
In May 2023 the estate filed a cross claim seeking repayment of the $200,000 transfer.
In November 2023, Ms Bosschieter and her family finally vacated the Forestville property, four months after the estate had terminated her lease.
‘The photographic evidence shows it was left in a grossly dilapidated state,’ Justice Slattery said.
‘The Forestville property was left in uninhabitable condition with obvious signs of property damage and rubbish strewn both in and outside the dwelling on the property.
‘[Justine’s] conduct in leaving the Forestville property in the state that she did is thoroughly discreditable.’
It cost the estate $55,000 to clean up the property.
The house was then sold in February for $2.85 million, with Ms Bosschieter not exercising her first right to purchase it.
Justice Slattery found that Ms Bosschieter obtained the $200,000 gift by undue influence.
He ordered the $200,000 plus interest, along with the $55,000 clean-up costs, should be deducted from her share of the estate.
