Montana Messina

Montana is a Senior Associate in the Private Clients team, focused on providing legal advice on a range of wills & estates matters. Montana has experience in both contested and uncontested estates. She advises executors in administering deceased estates, from straightforward matters through to those involving complex asset structures, blended families or multi jurisdictional considerations. Montana works closely with elderly clients and their families, to provide practical guidance on decision making, incapacity, powers of attorney, guardianship and protection of vulnerable individuals. Her work includes preparing comprehensive estate plans tailored to clients’ family structures, asset profiles and long term objectives.

Montana was admitted to practice in 2018 and brings both technical strength and client centred approach to situations that are often deeply personal. Whether assisting with the administration of an estate or guiding clients through complex, contested proceedings, Montana strives to provide practical, considered and outcome focused advice. She aims to reduce stress for her clients, explore early resolution wherever appropriate, and advance their interests efficiently and effectively.

 

Qualifications

• Master of Laws (Applied Law) majoring in Wills and Estates (College of Law Australia)

• Bachelor of Media (Communications & Journalism) (UNSW)

• Juris Doctor (UTS)

 

What Montana’s clients say

“Montana made a difficult time much easier. She was responsive, compassionate and incredibly thorough, and we always felt confident that everything was under control.”

“Her calming voice and precise eye for detail on the facts and numbers re-iterated the belief in our positon in an uncertain game.”

 

A word from Montana

Whether I’m preparing an estate plan, supporting a family through the administration of an estate, or helping resolve a dispute, my focus is always on providing practical and meaningful guidance while also achieving the most desirable outcome for my clients.

 

Career highlights

• Acted for executors in high net worth, complex, blended‑family estates coordinating the transfer of interstate and overseas assets, liasing with relevant advisors to resolve complex taxation issues, beneficiary disputes and ensuring the estate was administered efficiently and in accordance with the deceased’s intentions.

• Successfully negotiated an early settlement in a family provision claim involving four competing beneficiaries, reducing the client’s legal costs significantly and preserving family relationships by avoiding a contested Supreme Court hearing.

• Guided the families of elderly clients through urgent incapacity planning, and assisting with applications to the Guardianship Division of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal to ensure appropriate decision making arrangements were put in place.

 

Specific areas of focus

• Contested estate litigation, including acting and advising on estate disputes such as family provision claims, challenges to the validity of wills and disputes arising from estate administration.

• Uncontested applications to the Supreme Court for a grant of probate or letters of administration.

• Estate administration, both testate (where there is a valid will) and intestate (where there is no will).

• Elder law advice, including applications to the Guardianship Division of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, regarding capacity, and to implement decision-making and safegauarding arrangements.

• Estate planning, including advising on and preparing complex testamentary trust wills, power of attorney appointments and enduring guardian appointments.