Ex-union chief Kathy Jackson admits to altering David Rofe’s will

Kathy Jackson has confirmed she ‘made alterations’ to the wills of prominent barrister Dav­id Rofe using his home computer.

Ex-HSU boss Kathy Jackson in 2016. Picture: David Geraghty

Kathy Jackson has confirmed she “made alterations” to the wills of prominent Sydney barrister Dav­id Rofe using his home computer, and personally “typed” the last one in December 2014 which named her as an estate executor and left her an inheritance worth 10 per cent, or $3m, when the elderl­y dementia patient died.

The former Health Services Union chief says in a signed affidavit that she acted as Rofe’s “secretar­y/typist” for some time near the end of his life.

She says she generally did not talk to Rofe about the contents of his wills, which he often wanted to revise, nor did she want to be a beneficiary. She acted “in accordance with David’s instructions” in late 2014 to find the addresses of “residue beneficiaries” among rela­tives he wanted included in his last will, and typed will drafts as Rofe wanted, she says.

At no time, Ms Jackson says in her affidavit, did she press Rofe to “review his will or alter it in any way”, and she specifically recalled telling the elderly barrister that he “shouldn’t be leaving me anything because people will go nuts”.

The Australian reported on Monday that a battle over who will score a big payday from the ­estate of the wealthy barrister, who died aged 85 in July 2017 after suffering from advanced dementia, is headed for a showdown in the NSW Supreme Court.

More than a dozen people are named to receive inheritances, including Ms Jackson, in his last of 40 wills signed during his lifetime.

The matter is scheduled for a six-week hearing starting in Aug­ust, after failed attempts to reach a settlement in court mediation.

Ms Jackson says in her affidavit, obtained by The Australian, that she prepared this document at the request of solicitor Mark Peoples, who is representing defendants in the case including Rofe’s former main carer Greg Hele, who stands to receive 20 per cent of the estate.

At the time of Rofe’s death, Mr Hele would have received $6m, although­ this sum is considered to have been reduced following capital­ gains tax payments, market falls and administration fees.

A number of claimants are worried the rest of the barrister’s wealth could be eaten up in court costs, with the payment of fees out of the estate going to high-powered legal teams for all the parties.

Ms Jackson is not one of the officia­l parties bringing the inheritance battle to court but she has been involved behind the scenes, preparing the affidavit requested of her last June. She seemed to forgo interest in an inheritance from Rofe’s last will around the time of his death in July 2017.

Ms Jackson was then bankrupt and any money she might have received­ then would have been claimed by her main creditor, the HSU. Now she is out of bankruptcy, and the HSU has dropped any financial claims. She makes it clear in her affidavit she “wishes to perform” her role as the executor of the last Rofe will from December 2014, which also names her as a major beneficiary.

Ms Jackson met Rofe in May 2012, almost two years after his dementi­a diagnosis, and says in her affidavit that she “developed a close friendship with David and became very involved in his life”.

She says Rofe could not use a computer and depended upon others to type and print letters or sent emails. She says she had no involvement in the preparation of a Rofe will in March 2014 that boosted an earlier $45,000 inheritance for her in an April 2013 will to 10 per cent or $3m.Nor did she have any involvement in a July and October 2014 codicils that reduced her inheritance.

Acting as Rofe’s secretary, she said, she “made alterations” to the final will in December 2014 and gave him a new copy. She said Rofe did not want his previous solicitors, Arnold Bloch Leibler, to handle this will. He agreed to see another solicitor, Philip Beazley, but finalised the terms himself. The will was signed and witnessed during a medical appointment Rofe had, while Ms Jackson says she remained outside.