Sandra Cassar fighting her son, Michael in the Supreme Court over shares and properties

The $15m estate of a controversial Melbourne businessman dubbed the “landlord from hell” is being contested by his widow and son.

The Supreme Court of Victoria heard on Thursday Sandra Cassar is yet to receive a cent from her late husband Frank Cassar’s estate. Picture: Nadir Kinani

A mother and son embroiled in a fake will scandal after the death of controversial Melbourne businessman Frank Cassar has continued their long-running legal dispute over his $15m estate almost 13 years later.

Sandra Cassar, 67, is back in the Supreme Court fighting her son, Michael, over shares and properties, which belonged to her partner of more than 30 years, and which she claims her son fraudulently transferred into his name.

The court heard on Thursday she is yet to receive a cent from Frank’s estate since he died, aged 60, from a sudden heart attack in 2011.

This is despite a Supreme Court judgment in 2022 that revoked probate on the will, which was found to be forged after Frank’s death, and listed her instead of Michael as the administrator of the estate.

That ruling came after Sandra admitted she purchased a will kit and doctored it up after Frank’s death, leaving everything to his estranged son Michael, who had convinced her it was the only way to avoid the ATO taking large chunks of it.

She claimed Michael had promised he would do the right thing and look after her and her three other children.

But after almost eight years passed, the estate hadn’t been divided and Michael evicted his mum and siblings from their home and threatened her to remove caveats she had placed on seven properties in Fitzroy, preventing him from selling them.

The disability pensioner applied for the will probate to be revoked, revealing it was all fake, in a case described by a judge as “scandalous”.

A further two years on, and the estate remains undivided, with Michael refusing to relinquish the properties.

Sandra’s lawyer Justin Rizzi said she is the rightful owner of the properties.

“The true owner should have the property,” he said.

But Mr Black, for Michael, said his client had spent a lot of money improving and managing the properties, and given the delays in the proceeding, should maintain ownership.

That suggestion was labelled “extraordinary” by Mr Rizzi.

Mr Rizzi urged the court to find Michael obtained the property fraudulently and order Sandra obtain ownership.

“The person who sought to register the transfer (of the land), they basically made up their authority to do it,” he said.

“It couldn’t be a more classic species of fraud.”

Mr Black said no fraud was committed when the transfers of land applications were filed with the registrar of titles as his client had probate granted at the time.

Frank, who had run a panel beating and towing business, had previously been dubbed the landlord from hell, having faced dozens of civil court actions and claims of threatening and intimidating his tenants.

The ATO was chasing him for $2.4m in unpaid taxes before his death.

The court heard Frank’s death came before Victoria changed its intestacy laws in 2017 to say the entire state would go to a deceased’s spouse or domestic partner if they have no will.

The old law applies where the partner would take the first $100,000 and a third of the balance with the remaining two thirds given to the children.

Justice James Gorton said the case was simple: “He’s either got to give them back, or he doesn’t”, referring to the properties and shares.

He reserved his decision.