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Teen gets $25m in will tussle

Centre of attention: Olivia Mead leaves court. Picture: Simon Santi/The West Australian

Teenager Olivia Mead, who grew up in Perth's outer suburbs and was by no means spoilt by her billionaire mining heir father Michael Wright, walked out of the Supreme Court yesterday with the promise of $25 million from his "colossal" estate.

Master Craig Sanderson found a trust set up in Mr Wright's will posed the real prospect of leaving the 19-year-old student, a love child from a relationship in the mid-1990s, with nothing and raised the extraordinary proposition of forcing her to give up her basic right to freedom of religion to secure her entitlement.

Master Sanderson described the $25 million lump sum as little more than a "rounding error" in the context of the massive estate, saying it would not affect about $400 million already bestowed to each of Mr Wright's two eldest daughters, Leonie Baldock and Alexandra Burt.

"They (Ms Baldock and Ms Burt) can rest easy in the knowledge their half-sister will be financially secure for the rest of her life," Master Sanderson said.

Ruling that the will had not made adequate provision for Ms Mead, Master Sanderson said the trust - which would have bequeathed the teenager $3 million when she turned 30 - was unworkable and unwieldy.

He said it included a potentially oppressive clause that could have excluded Ms Mead as a beneficiary if she was caught drink-driving, convicted of possessing marijuana or even involved with somebody who used an illicit drug or practised a faith such as Buddhism or Islam.

Master Sanderson said Mr Wright had chosen to have only sporadic contact with Ms Mead when she was a child and appeared not to have taken much of an interest in her welfare. He paid child care as required by law and fees for a private school, but gave her gifts of only nominal value and did not buy a home for Ms Mead and her mother, despite them moving from rental homes several times.

Master Sanderson said it would be a mistake to suggest the relationship between Mr Wright and his two eldest daughters was that of a big, happy family.

"The picture which emerges is of a difficult man more at home in the world of business than dealing with emotions and interpersonal relationships," he said. Master Sanderson said Ms Mead had submitted some items that were "clearly fanciful", such as a $250,000 diamond-studded bass guitar, but asking a 19-year-old to outline what she would spend for the rest of her life was a big task.

"I was not left with the impression that the plaintiff was a gold digger or in some way a narcissistic greedy individual," he said.

"Faced with a question about that guitar she might like, she let her imagination run wild."

Master Sanderson said after becoming aware he had terminal cancer about six months before he died, Mr Wright could have ensured his estate was not open to any claim by distributing it before his death.

But this would have left him liable for millions of dollars in tax.

Master Sanderson said the $25 million would be paid on the condition Ms Mead relinquish her rights from the trust, with final orders to be determined at a later date.

Estate executor David Lemon, Ms Baldock and Ms Burt said the finding was acknowledged and they were considering their position.