How Are the Opposing Party’s Defences Examined in a Deceased Person’s Sham Transaction Case?

A Deceased Person’s Sham Transaction

Prepared by: Constantinople

Building the evidence file only from documents supporting your own allegation is insufficient. The opposing party may assert a genuine sale, paid consideration, care relationship or distribution taking other heirs into account. Each explanation must be tested separately against the facts and documents.

For a genuine-sale defence, funding, the buyer’s financial means and the deceased’s need to sell matter. A care relationship requires more than reading the agreement’s title; care conditions, the parties’ circumstances and performance are investigated. Close kinship does not alone invalidate every transaction, just as an official deed does not conclusively eliminate simulation.

Benefits to other heirs must also enter the picture. Showing only the disputed property while excluding other transfers or family debts may make the assessment incomplete. Transaction dates, values and actual reasons are compared. Earlier disputes are relevant to the extent they can be connected to the specific transfer.

We read the file from the opposing party’s perspective as well to identify where explanations or more documents will be needed. The aim is to understand how an allegation may be met in proceedings, rather than turn a sense of entitlement into an outcome promise. Records supporting the opposing party are included alongside contradictions between transfer timing, payment accounts and actual use. This helps frame the action, evidence and claims more accurately.