New claim in mother, daughter Portsea house dispute
A dispute between the mother and daughter of one of Melbourne’s establishment families over a showcase $11 million clifftop property at Portsea has taken a new turn.
Fiona Byrne
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A dispute between the mother and daughter of one of Melbourne’s establishment families over a showcase $11 million clifftop property at Portsea has taken a new turn with claims that there exists a handwritten and signed agreement of sale from 2018.
Celia Burrell, who with her husband William created the renowned El Questro resort in WA, launched Supreme Court action in July against her mother Janice Shelmerdine, the widow of Peter Shelmerdine, claiming the family matriarch tried to sell the landmark property despite promising it to her.
The property, known as Positano, is located on the northern side of Point Nepean Road and includes a main home overlooking Portsea’s famous Shelley Beach, a three-level ‘bungalow,’ a grass tennis court, and use of a nearby boat shed.
In an amended statement of claim filed in the Supreme Court, Mrs Burrell claims that on January 12, 2018 she and her mother agreed that she would buy the remaining one third interest in Positano for $3,666,667 and that the sale would be completed within three month.
The three-page sale agreement was handwritten by Mrs Burrell with her mother in front of a trusted family friend, Dr David Lindsay.
Each page was signed by the trio. Mrs Burrell believed at the time, and still does, that she held a ⅔ interest in the property having bought out her brother Richard’s share in 2008.
The sad mother-daughter divide is detailed in the Statement of Claim in which Mrs Burrell says she believed for years that she would have the right to buy out her brothers, Richard and Edward, interests in the property and inherit the estate after her mother’s passing.
Further, she believed she had been granted the right to buy the property from her mother, should she wish to sell, during her lifetime.
Mrs Burrell engaged lawyers after her mother emailed her in May this year telling her she intended to sell the property. Mrs Burrell quickly acted to have a caveat slapped on the property to prevent the property being listed.
Mrs Burrell is asking the court to declare that she holds a two thirds interest in Positano from 2008 and is requesting the 2018 handwritten sale agreement regarding the final third be enforced at the agreed price.
She is otherwise seeking an option to purchase the remaining ⅓ interest at market value after her mother’s passing.
Alternatively, she is seeking damages for breach of the January 2018 Sale Agreement.
She is also asking for an injunction restraining her mother from selling the property.
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