George Polites loses court bid to block probe into mother’s estate

The next step in the contentious probe into property tycoon George Polites’ handling of his late mother’s multimillion-dollar estate has been approved by the court.

Con and Florence Polites pictured in 1994.

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Property tycoon George Polites’ attempt to block an administrator from beginning a probe into his handling of his late mother’s multimillion-dollar estate has been rejected in court.

The judgment means administrator Sarah Hooper can begin her investigations amid a bitter legal battle over the will of family matriarch Florence Polites following her death last year.

Mr Polites’ nephew Markas Salkanovic – grandson of Mrs Polites – is suing for a slice of his grandmother’s estate, and in December secured a court ruling to appoint an administrator to investigate Mr Polites’ claims his mother’s 1999 will was “insolvent”.

Mr Polites, the estate’s executor, had been seeking court approval for the administrator’s probe to be delayed until an appeal to that decision is heard later this year. But his application has been dismissed in a Court of Appeal judgment handed down by Supreme Court Justice Sam Doyle.

It means Ms Hooper can begin her investigations ahead of the appeal, which is due to be heard from September 2.

George Polites. Picture: Brad Fleet

Lawyer Sarah Hooper of Track Legal.

The court has previously heard Mrs Polites’ estate, which has not been granted probate or made legally official, had more than $1.5m in assets but was “insolvent” after accruing debts worth more than $4.4m.

However an examination of property records, conducted by accounting firm KMT Tax and Business Solutions, shows that Mrs Polites had her almost $27m stake in the family’s property empire transferred to a complex corporate structure controlled by other family members before her death.

It includes almost 50 properties across Adelaide, as well as in Sydney’s Double Bay and Paddington.

Mrs Polites, who was married to the late Adelaide property king Con Polites for almost six decades, died in March 2024, aged 102, while living in a Glenelg nursing home.

Mr Polites has denied allegations that he acted improperly as executor, and of wrongdoing while the estate fell into the red due to “living expenses” that enabled his mother to live “peacefully”.

His lawyer Greg Griffin said that the Court of Appeal decision would not prevent Mr Polites from proceeding with the appeal process later this year.

“We’re working towards the appeal on 2 September - that’s where our efforts and resources are being directed to,” he said.

Mr Salkanovic and Ms Hooper declined to comment.