Widow takes on doctor son and his councillor wife over family home

A top doctor and his Liberal Party wife are being sued by his 81-year-old mother who claims they “improperly influenced” her into signing over her beloved family home to pay their crippling debts.

A top doctor and his Liberal Party wife are being sued by his 81-year-old mother who claims they “improperly influenced” her into signing over her beloved family home to pay their crippling debts.

Respiratory specialist Dr Peter Wark and his wife Katrina, a City of Newcastle councillor, are defending the high-profile case brought by his widowed mother Delma Wark.

Mrs Wark claims the couple told her they were at risk of losing their home because the parents of seven owed $70,000 in school fees to Newcastle Grammar and the school held the title deeds to their house.

Before signing over 50 per cent of her Tea Gardens home in June 2014, Mrs Wark claims in court documents her son and daughter-in-law promised her a nominal $1 - which she never got.

Then four months later the high-profile couple asked for the other half of the home because they were having problems securing finance for a townhouse development at Elermore Vale, it is alleged in the statement of claim.

Professor Peter Warki s defending claims he left his mother in hardship after getting her to sign over the family home to pay debts.

Katrina, who was the Liberal Party candidate for Newcastle in the last Federal election, promised Mrs Wark she could live in the one of the new townhouses in Robinia Close, but then they moved in themselves, it is claimed.

Mrs Wark allege that she has been left paying all the rates and maintenance for her Tea Gardens home which once belonged to her own parents.

Newcastle City Liberal councillor Katrina Wark, who .

Because she no longer owns the house, she does not qualify for pensioner rebates on the rates, the court has been told.

“Katrina acted as agent for, or on behalf of, Peter to procure the (two transfers) from Delma which were wholly detrimental to her,” according to Mrs Wark’s statement of claim filed in the Supreme Court.

The first 50 per cent of the house was signed over while Mrs Wark was visiting her grandchildren at the couple’s house when Katrina handed her a document and told her where to sign, it is alleged in the court documents.

Mrs Wark alleges she had no legal or financial advice and was promised $1 in return for half the house. She did not even receive the $1, it is claimed.

Mrs Delma Wark’s home Tea Gardens which she signed over to her son and his wife Picture: Supplied RP Data

Dr Wark, 54, is a respiratory and sleep medicine specialist in the Hunter region. Katrina Wark, 55, a nurse, lost the election to incumbent Newcastle Labor MP Sharon Claydon.

Mrs Wark inherited her home mortgage-free from her parents and lived there with her husband John from 1997. Mr Wark has since died and it is alleged that Mrs Wark “relied on the trust and confidence which she reposed in Peter and Katrina”.

“Peter and Katrina on account of undue influence and/or unconscionable conduct have left Delma with no assets and imminent hardship,” according to the statement of claim.

Respiratory specialist Professor Peter Wark, Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI), who allegedly got his mother to sign over her home to pay his family’s crippling school and property development debts. Supplied.

Mrs Wark claims she was told that if they lost their home it would impact on the stability of her grandchildren.

Both Peter and Katrine Wark are defending the claim while admitting that Mrs Wark did sign over her home to them. They admit that Dr Wark mortgaged it in 2015 to Secure Funding Pty Ltd.

They deny telling Mrs Wark that they were in danger of losing their home, or that they owed $70,000 in school fees or that she had “limited legal and financial understanding”.

They also deny telling her they were having trouble raising finance for the housing development.

The case has been set down for trial in the Supreme Court on December 7.