A lengthy legal battle over the estate of a wealthy Hobart property developer has resulted in his fortune being distributed to his three adult children — two of whom he had, at one stage, sought to disinherit.
Ali Sultan died suddenly while on a bushwalk on kunanyi/Mount Wellington in January 2021, aged 73.
Mr Sultan migrated from Lebanon to Australia in 1969 and relocated to Hobart three years later with his Tasmanian wife.
He opened a corner store in Claremont and later moved to fruit wholesaling businesses, then car parks and accommodation developments.
At the time of his death in January, he was the sole director of seven corporations and the sole shareholder in three of those.
The Supreme Court heard the property developer, who was worth between $60 million and $80 million, had separated from his wife of over 40 years and was negotiating a property settlement with her.
Justice Michael Brett said he could "infer from the evidence that there was considerable acrimony, and it would seem that Ali, at least, resented the separation and the property settlement".
"He formed views from time to time as to the role that some of his children played in relation to those proceedings, and this affected his relationship with them and, consequently, his testamentary intentions."
Mr Sultan made seven wills between 2012 and his death, each dealing very differently with his estate.
The last will, made in December 2020, made provisions for his grandchildren but excluded his son Moe and daughter Sonia.
The court heard Mr Sultan had told his lawyer he was "excluding his daughter Sonia and Moe and made comments which indicated that this related to their support for his wife during the property settlement proceedings".
Moe Sultan took the matter to court, questioning the validity of the December document and arguing a will made in July 2018 should be considered his father's last will and testament.
He argued that his father had a poor grasp of English and was limited in his capacity to read and understand documents written in English.
"Moe testified in his affidavit that he was close to his father, both as a child and an adult, until their relationship became strained in late 2019," Justice Brett said.
"He was heavily involved with his father in his business activities. He says that, although Ali attempted to improve his English skills, he never successfully acquired the ability to proficiently read and understand documents written in English.
"Moe often acted as his father's interpreter with respect to documents. Ali's English writing skills were also very poor."
In his findings, Justice Brett found there was "genuine doubt" that Mr Sultan knew and approved the contents of the will made in December 2020.
An earlier will couldn't be found, despite a search of Mr Sultan's home on Sandy Bay Road and his office, and the judge had concerns that the contents of another did not reflect Mr Sultan's conversations with his lawyer.
He ruled that the will made in July 2018 should be viewed as Ali Sultan's last and handed control of his assets to his three children, Moe, Sonia and Saleh.
"A compromise has now been reached between all persons interested in the various wills," Justice Brett said.
"The essence of the compromise is that the July 2018 will be pronounced as Ali's last will, with an appropriate grant in solemn form."
Moe Sultan was also granted Letters of Administration to manage the estate.
In a statement, Moe Sultan said it had been a difficult 14 months.
"I am honoured to have the support of my family to now manage and distribute dad's estate," he said.
" I look forward to having more to say about dad's legacy and future plans for Sultan Holdings in coming weeks and months."
