Bianca is an experienced wills, estates and trusts lawyer based in Melbourne, advising trustees, executors and beneficiaries on complex trust and deceased estate matters. Her work includes trust disputes (including beneficiary access to trust documents and trustee removal), trust variations, contested probate matters, testamentary capacity disputes, contested wills and family provision claims, estate administration disputes, and associated partnership, shareholder and contractual disputes.
Clients value Bianca for her calm, practical and empathetic approach, particularly in complex and emotionally charged matters that often involve disputes between family members. She explains technical legal issues clearly and provides considered, strategic advice focused on resolving disputes commercially and efficiently.
Bianca brings extensive dispute resolution and litigation experience, having practised in trusts, estates and commercial disputes in both Victoria and New South Wales, including matters before the Supreme and Federal Courts.
Experience
- Acting for the plaintiffs in high quantum equitable disputes brought against an estate and a company in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
- Acting for defendant trustees in claims brought against them by beneficiaries in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
- Acting for defendant trustees in resisting claims brought against them for access to trust documents.
- Acting for defendant executors in respect of family provision (Testators Family Maintenance) claims.
- Acting in successful appeal concerning a proprietary estoppel claim in the context of successive wills in Re Connock (No 3) [2023] VSC 420.
- Acting for multiple respondent trustees in a high quantum proceeding in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
- Advising trustees involved in complex family trust structures in respect of disputes with beneficiaries.
- Advising a trustee in respect of an application to the Supreme Court of Victoria to vary the terms of the trust.
- Advising and acting for executors of high-net-worth estates in relation to caveats filed against applications for grants of probate.
- Acting for a partner in a dissolved partnership in relation to a dispute between the former partners and a proceeding brought by an alleged creditor of the partnership in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
- Acting for the applicant and DomaCom Australia Limited in Aussiegolfa Pty Ltd (Trustee) v Commissioner of Taxation [2018] FCAFC 122.
- Acting for shareholders in relation to shareholder oppression claims in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Awards recognition
Best Lawyers in Australia
'Ones to Watch' - Litigation | 2023, 2024