Former drug addict Craig Andrew Hartley awarded $150k after being left out of mum Shirley Hartley’s will

A former drug addict who a judge described as the “lame duck” of the family has been awarded $150,000 out of his late mother’s estate, despite being explicitly excluded from her final will.

A 49-YEAR-OLD, former drug addict who a judge described as the “lame duck” of the family has been awarded $150,000 of his late mother’s estate, despite being explicitly excluded from her final will.

In March 2015, a year prior to Shirley Hartley’s passing, and just days before complicated bowel surgery which doctors did not expect her to survive, she revoked her will splitting her estate into four shares between Craig Andrew Hartley and his three brothers, Shane, Peter, and Damian.

Instead, the $1.2m estate was to be distributed between Shane, Peter and Damian.

In a statutory declaration, Mrs Hartley wrote: “I have purposefully left Craig Andrew Hartley out of my will and do not wish him or his girlfriend to benefit from my estate”.

The reasons she gave were that he had “plenty of money given to him at all times”, was addicted to the drug ice, and he was “a big disappointment to me and has done nothing to help me during my illness but cause me a great deal of stress”.

Following an application for proper maintenance and support and after a two-day trial in May, the Cairns District Court recently decided Mr Hartley was entitled to $150,000.

District Court Judge Dean Morzone QC found Mr Hartley “endures in hopeless circumstances receiving the disability support pension because of a sports injury suffered when he was about 20 years old, he lives in community housing and has no assets”.

During the trial, the court heard how Mr Hartley had a tumultuous upbringing, including childhood abuse, and was exposed to marijuana from the age of 13 or 14 as a result of his mother’s drug dealing to friends in their home, and began drinking alcohol in his teens.

The court also heard of Mr Hartley’s life of crime and drug use as he grew older, with Judge Morzone describing how Mrs Hartley endured her son’s offending, recklessness, drugged verbal outbursts, fighting and property damage.

“It is not contentious that while affected by drugs, the applicant was verbally abusive of the deceased and that he smashed holes in the walls at the Pease Street property,” he noted.

Mrs Hartley survived her bowel surgery and lived another 15 months – however during that time Mr Hartley was imprisoned and the last time he saw her was five months before her death.

Mr Hartley’s brother Shane opposed his application because of his “disentitling conduct comprised of stealing from the deceased, hostility, exposing her to violence by drug associates, damaging property, physical domestic violence, and psychological stress and anxiety”.

In finding in favour of Mr Hartley to the tune of $150,000, Judge Morzone said he was not satisfied his behaviour was disentitling, but “more of a demonstration of his lame duck status consequent upon his tumultuous childhood, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, exposure to drugs, and drug addicted reckless lifestyle”.

Judge Morzone said he would hear further submissions about the form of order consistent with his decision, and any application as to costs.

Originally published as Former drug addict Craig Andrew Hartley awarded $150k after being left out of mum Shirley Hartley’s will