Sydney man Raymond McClure was as wealthy as he was lonely. But in the final months of his life he became closer with his GP, Dr Peter Alexakis, the NSW supreme court has heard.
Alexakis spoke fluent greek like McClure and was the only person who regularly visited the 83-year-old in hospital. And because McClure was suspicious about other medical professionals and lawyers, he became increasingly reliant on Alexakis for more than just social interaction, Alexakis said.
The extent of this reliance, and whether it unduly influenced McClure’s decision to leave 90% of his $30m estate to Alexakis, is central to a court case over the will.
McClure made his money buying apartment blocks in western Sydney, renting them out and reinvesting the rental income in more apartments and his share portfolio.
He made multiple wills from 1986 to 2016, the court heard, leaving his estate to the Salvation Army, one of his only friends Hildegard Schwanke and her daughter, and Frank Camilleri, a business partner he had known for almost 50 years and who had maintained the apartment buildings.
All three parties and Alexakis are contesting the will in a dispute that has been the subject of a two-week supreme court hearing that finished on Friday. The hearings, equal parts complex and obscure, have traversed case law dating back to the 1800s, and included exhibits such as two chapters of the Count of Monte Cristo.
McClure falls ill
In 2017, McClure became seriously unwell. Alexakis, who had known McClure for about four years, would describe him in court as the sickest patient he had ever treated. McClure was in palliative care because of a variety of health problems, including diabetes, colorectal cancer that had metastasised, a bowel obstruction, prostate enlargement, cataracts and lymphedema.
In early June, McClure met with a solicitor in hospital with a view to changing his will. The solicitor, Angelo Andresakis, had been introduced to McClure by Alexakis. Alexakis told the court McClure had asked him to put him in contact with a lawyer to change his will, but had not discussed his planned changes – including that he planned to include Alexakis in the will – or the extent of his estate.
The court heard that Andresakis had completed Alexakis’s father’s will, performed work for Alexakis’s wife and her family for decades, and his firm had previously authorised a will on behalf of another patient of Alexakis who had gifted the GP $80,000. McClure was not aware of this existing relationship at the time of the meeting, the court heard. Andresakis denied he was obliged to disclose the extent of the relationship and said Alexakis had never told him that he expected to be a beneficiary of the will.
The first will Andresakis made for McClure allocated 65% of the estate – worth about $30m – to Alexakis. The second, which was made the following month and authorised after McClure had returned home from hospital, bequeathed 90% to the GP.
Lawyers for the Salvation Army, the Schwankes and Camilleri say Alexakis’s conduct during this period in mid-2017 is central to their case that he should not receive 90% of the estate.
Raoul Wilson SC, acting on behalf of the Salvation Army’s legal secretary Gary Masters, told the court it should find that a deal had been struck between McClure and Alexakis: firstly that the GP would get his patient out of hospital, and secondly that he would do all he could to ensure that McClure was able to receive the care he needed at home so he would not be admitted again.
Alexakis denies such a deal existed, but gave evidence that McClure had offered him $10,000 to get him out of hospital, which he refused.
Although Alexakis gave evidence he had never discussed McClure’s will with him, Wilson pointed to evidence to the contrary.
One witness said McClure told them he had multiple conversations with Alexakis about removing the Salvation Army from the will because of allegations regarding historical sexual abuse within the institution. McClure, the witness said, claimed Alexakis told him he should consider taking the Salvation Army out of the will, and he later decided to “leave my money where it could do some good. Peter is a good man.” Alexakis denied the conversation ever occured.
Andresakis accused of being ‘asleep at the wheel’
Wilson also pointed to statements Alexakis had made during an interview with the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission in which he said he had a conversation with McClure about his patient wanting to remove the Salvation Army from the will. Alexakis said he did not recall this conversation.
Wilson said his case also depended on “Mr Andresakis not doing his job”, as the lawyer had obligations to ensure the instructions he had been given by McClure were a true reflection of his intentions.
Justin Brown, acting for the Schwankes, said Andresakis was “asleep at the wheel”.
During his evidence earlier in the hearing, Andresakis denied he had any such obligation, noting that McClure had been found to have the mental capacity to complete a will. He said on the four occasions he met McClure he appeared mentally sound and at times expressed fondness for Alexakis and had said he wanted to exclude the Salvation Army from his will because of concern over child sexual abuse allegations within the organisation. “Mentally he was very … on the ball, so to speak. He was very mentally energetic, you know, he was quite an interesting fellow too as he spoke,” Andresakis told the court.
But the court also heard that on 10 October 2017, after police alerted Andresakis that they were investigating a complaint regarding Alexakis’s influence over McClure’s will, Andresakis’s firm wrote a letter to McClure.
The letter said he should consider revising his will, including possibly seeking further legal advice, and read in part: “There’s a real question as to the validity of your current will.” Another lawyer at Andresakis’ firm told the court the letter was written not because of any concern with the conduct of Alexakis, but because of the police investigation.
McClure died less than six weeks later. His will had not been changed.
Lindsay Ellison SC, for Alexakis, said the involvement of police and the Royal Prince Alfred hospital in investigating the circumstances surrounding the will while McClure was still alive meant he had plenty of opportunity to revise it or address concerns regarding the involvement of Alexakis.
“The undue influence was fairly raised well before his death and everyone had a go at determining whether there was undue influence in the relationship,” Ellison said.
Despite the suggestion that Alexakis was “some svengali or Rasputin who corrupted his mind”, McClure was not the type of man to be “easily influenced by anyone about anything”, and he expressly denied this influence before he died, Ellison said.
Justice Trish Henry will hand down her decision at a later date.
