Rosemary Peake and Lloyd Day in court over father’s Calliope estate

A family feud over a deceased estate has turned ugly with allegations of fraudulent activity, abuse, threats to kill and unsubstantiated claims of financial contributions and extensive labour.

Ex horse breaker / stockman Des Day (74), and his horse. Photo taken 21 July 1999 by Rob Middenway.

A family feud over a deceased estate has turned ugly with allegations of fraudulent activity, abuse, threats to kill and unsubstantiated claims of financial contributions and extensive labour.

Rosemary Peake, the eldest of Calliope’s Desmond Day’s offspring, tried to communicate with her six half-siblings about the administration of the estate following Desmond’s death in July 2020, according to court documents about a Rockhampton District Court decision handed down late last month.

Judge Jeff Clarke, in the decision, described the actions of Lloyd Day, 58, which included ignoring Ms Peake’s attempts, allegations doubting her paternity, abuse and threats to kill saying ”1 shot, 1 kill”, as “unnecessary and churlish”.

After advice from the Public Trustee, and being ignored by most siblings, Ms Peake, 71, was granted permission by the court to sort out her father’s estate, which led to applications filed by two of her siblings - Lloyd and Scott Day, who have remained living at the estate’s main asset in Calliope.

The siblings sought further provisions from the estate, estimated to be worth about $440,000, however one joined too late and their joint application required the court’s permission to continue.

Ex horse breaker / stockman Des Day (74), and his horse. Photo taken 21 July 1999 by Rob Middenway.

Judge Clarke rejected the application and stated the two properties on Sutherland Street, Calliope, must be sold to allow so the estate can be divided up.

Lloyd had argued he should get the properties and his siblings – twins Paul and Scott, Leanne Pearce, Narelle Phillips, Brett Day and Ms Peake – should get nothing more.

The decision outlined what the court had heard about those siblings, including that Brett’s financial affairs were administered by the Public Trustee due to schizophrenia, mild intellectual disability and an acquired brain injury secondary to trauma from a car accident when he was a child.

Paul Day was injured while serving in the Australian Army and now receives a disability pension and lives in rental accommodation.

According to the decision, Scott had withdrawn $45,000 from Desmond’s account in the days following his death, leaving a balance of $13,600.

Other evidence provided to the court showed the Gladstone Regional Council rates were paid out Desmond’s account while he resided at a nursing home and after his death, along with insurance premiums which provided coverage for contents worth $215,500.

The total amount withdrawn from Desmond’s account after his death was over $85,500 and included paying for groceries, alcohol, car registration, fuel, vehicle expenses, electricity, entertainment, including at the Calliope Country Club, and other cash withdrawals.

Meanwhile, it was claimed Desmond’s pension paid for his nursing home care from 2013 to his death.

The court document stated Scott had been on jobseeker payments since 2014.

He was paid a carer’s payment while he looked after his mother, who died in January 2016, and by this time, Desmond was living in a nursing home.

“He has continued to live rent free at the properties … deposed to owning vehicles, shares, a shed and ‘household contents’ worth $6000, and 16 firearms,” Judge Clarke wrote.

Scott discontinued his application and Judge Clarke ruled he was not entitled to any more from the estate.

Lloyd, during a trial in the district court regarding this estate, said he worked “sporadically in plant operation on civil contracts”, owned an excavator and failed in starting his own business in 2020.

He has lived at the Calliope property rent free since 1999 and claims to “have a moral claim to inheritance on assurances given, contributed substantially in the provision of care, as well as providing substantial financial contributions and performing extensive labour on the properties,”, Judge Clarke wrote in his decision.

“There was no evidence tendered which supported (Lloyd’s) vague assertions about what he did for his parents, when he expended his financial contribution and when he performed the work, including earthmoving,” Judge Clarke said.

He said Lloyd claimed he did not have income during 2019-2021 financial years, but contradicted himself saying he had been contracted to do work in that period.

However, Judge Clarke said there was no evidence provided to back his claims about work, only a notebook about who and when he worked.

Lloyd also confirmed he had $150,000 to $200,000 “locked up” in a superannuation fund and co-jointly owns a block of land with his brother Paul for over 20 years with plans to build a shed on it and live in the shed, despite having lived at the Calliope properties “since he was born” and being unwilling to “allow” them to be sold and divided into seven.

Ex horse breaker / stockman Des Day (74), and his horse. Photo taken 21 July 1999 by Rob Middenway.

An on-site independent valuation in April 2022 revealed the state of the properties, saying the house was in a “very poor condition” so bad it was not considered legally habitable, with heavy mould throughout the house, all internal doors removed, holes in walls and no cooking facilities installed.

“The photographs correlate with the valuer’s description the properties bear the appearance of being inhabited by hoarders,” Judge Clarke stated.

Lloyd claimed Paul had done the damage after he came out of the army.

Judge Clarke stated he was not persuaded there was an adequate or reasonable explanation for the delay and was prepared to “find the applicant has engaged in unconscionable conduct”, thwarting attempts to enter the properties to conduct an inventory of estate assets, even with police assistance and he has not disclosed the extent of the full assets of the estate, or their whereabouts, including a missing Lexus.

He added that Lloyd and Scott must vacate the properties and remove all “personally owned belongings, without further delay”.

Judge Clarke said there would likely be further orders in the near future about timeline and method the eviction, sale and how the estate’s funds would then be distributed.