The opera lover, the aromatherapist and the $1m inheritance fight
Eva Marie Easton died in September 2021, aged 89. The German migrant made a will in November 2020 naming the Sydney Opera House Trust as sole beneficiary. It was her wish that the funds be used for the promotion of performances of German classical music.
The 2020 will superseded a will from 2019, leaving everything to her friend Isabelle Agnes Peacock, an aromatherapist she met in 2004 when she started having monthly massages. Easton's Australian ex-husband had died years earlier, and she was unaware of any other living relatives.
By about 2009, Easton and Peacock 'had developed a good friendship', Supreme Court Justice James Hmelnitsky said in a decision last year.
'Mrs Peacock would drive Mrs Easton to places she needed to be, such as dental and medical appointments.'
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Easton was diagnosed with cancer and moved to a NSW aged care facility in 2017. Peacock continued to visit.
The elderly woman made a will in December 2017 leaving her estate to a couple with whom she was friends. If they predeceased Easton, everything would go to Peacock.
The court heard Easton became upset when the couple moved to Queensland. She executed a new will in May 2019, leaving her estate to Peacock.
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