Don and Gail Patterson’s wills under review by the Supreme Court following alleged murders

As the woman accused of murdering three relatives with poisonous mushrooms prepares to face trial, the family of two of her alleged victims – Don and Gail Patterson – has quietly moved to settle the couple’s estate.

Don and Gail Patterson were both 70 when they died.

Family of alleged death cap mushroom poisoning victims Don and Gail Patterson have officially applied to the Supreme Court to settle their estate.

The couple, both aged 70, died after attending a beef wellington lunch at their former daughter in-law Erin Patterson’s home in Leongatha on July 29 last year.

Gail and her sister Heather Wilkinson, who was also allegedly poisoned, died in hospital on August 4 with Don passing away a day later.

Don and Gail leave behind their son Simon Patterson, who was allegedly set to attend the lunch but pulled out at the last minute, and two grandchildren.

Ms Patterson pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder and is expected to face a jury trial next year.

Don and Gail Patterson died after allegedly eating death cap mushrooms at a lunch in Leongatha in July last year.

Now, almost one year on from the deadly lunch, the family of Don and Gail have filed for probate, a process where the court approves that a will is valid and that the executors can act on it.

In a publicly available intention to apply advertisement, the executors listed on the two wills are Nathan Patterson and Anna Terrington.

The wills, both dated November 2, 2018, are sealed, with the status listed as “under review”.

An estate lawyer told the Herald Sun the court reviewing an application was a common practice.

“A probate application requires executors or administrators to file a number of documents with the Supreme Court in order to obtain a grant of probate,” he said.

“These include an affidavit, a certified copy of the death certificate, the original will, and a statement of the deceased’s assets and liabilities.

“Once filed, the court will usually either request further information from the executors or issue a grant of probate.

“The grant allows the executors to deal with the deceased assets.”

It’s unlikely that Ms Patterson was left with anything in the will as the Herald Sun understands there has not been a challenge to the probate application.

An individual may dispute a will and say it should be struck out when the person who made the will was suffering from a mentally degenerating disease or they were put under pressure to change it.

Erin Patterson was charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder. Picture: Brooke Grebert-Craig.

The lawyer said there were several reasons why it had taken almost a year for the executors to apply.

“The nature of the deaths would have certainly resulted in a delay in the receipt of the death certificate,” he said.

“The death certificate is required to be filed with the application, and is also often required when contacting financial institutions to ascertain the deceased’s financial position at the time of death.

“The added factor of both Don and Gail passing away at a similar time may also make things more difficult for the executors.

“Often, assets pass from one spouse to another after death automatically.

“Accordingly, working out whose assets were who’s at particular times may be the cause of the added delay.”

Erin Patterson is due to face court for an administrative hearing in August.