What do the Oceania estate cases show?
A will can only pass what the dead person owns, and assets placed in trusts controlled by advisers may never reach the named heir. A trustee who is also the beneficiaries' parent and the company's controller invites a removal suit when the trust vests.
- Stories
- 14
- Years
- 40000 BCE to 2024
- Main subjects
- Native nations and islands, Divorce and feuds, Heirlooms and treasure
- Legal traditions
- Common law, Customary law
- Updated
- 30 October 2026
Every story in Oceania, best-known first
Best-known first: cases from 1900 on, then the United States, then Europe, and the people most read about on English Wikipedia each month. Fiction, scripture and legend come last.
- 1997Michael Hutchence left half his estate to his baby daughter, and the money went into offshore trusts she did not controltheage.com.au and 3 more
- 1992Gina Rinehart's children sued her for control of a $5 billion family trust, and her daughter replaced her as trusteeInternet Archive and 2 more
- 2012Tonga's constitution lets only children born in marriage inherit the throne or a noble estate, so King George Tupou V's daughter could not succeed himWikisource (primary text) and 4 more
- 2024The Māori King's council passed over the son who had stood in for him and named his youngest child queen at his funeralteaonews.co.nz and 2 more
- 1992Eddie Mabo died five months before the High Court upheld Meriam title to his island, and his grave was defaced the day after his memorialslq.qld.gov.au and 4 more
- 2014"Putin's banker" put $100 million into New Zealand trusts for his family, and a London judge ruled the trusts were shamsThe National Archives, Find Case Law and 2 more
- 1989The Vunivalu of Bau title stood empty for 34 years after 1989 because Cakobau's clan could not agree on an heirfijivillage.com and 2 more
- 1910On Yap, a family stayed rich for generations on a stone coin lying at the bottom of the seaInternet Archive and 2 more
- 1296Edward I took Scotland's coronation stone in 1296; four students took it back on Christmas Day 1950 and broke it in twoperthmuseum.co.uk and 4 more
- 1833Settlers cut off Yagan's head for a £30 reward, it was shown in London and buried in a Liverpool grave, and Noongar elders buried it in the Swan Valley in 2010abc.net.au and 2 more
- 1779Hawaiʻi's ruling chief put his feather cloak on Captain Cook in 1779, and it took 237 years and a New Zealand museum to bring it homeSmithsonian Magazine and 2 more
- 1873The Native Land Court declared Ōrākei inalienable, the Crown took or bought almost all of it, and 800 police and soldiers ended a 506-day occupation with 222 arrestsnvdatabase.swarthmore.edu and 2 more
- 1826Worrall held Fisher's power of attorney, said Fisher had sailed for England, and sold his property; Fisher was in a grave on Worrall's landcampbelltown.nsw.gov.au and 2 more
- 40000 BCEMungo Man and Mungo Lady, Australia's oldest known people, came home after decades in Canberra, and their reburial split the three nations who own themSmithsonian Magazine and 3 more