Daughter sues mum over former mining exec's $30 million farm inheritance

Daughter of mining executive sues mother over multi-million-dollar farm inheritance In short: Sapphire Halliday, the daughter of late millionaire mining executive Garnet Halliday, is suing her mother over an alleged broken promise regarding the proceeds of her late father's estate. Ms Halliday's mother, Deborah Halliday, refutes the claims and is arguing in the Victorian Supreme Court that some parts of the alleged claim are legally non-binding regardless. What's next? The matter is slated to go to mediation in March next year. The daughter of a mining executive who was killed in a plane crash 20 years ago is suing her mother for part of the estate she alleges was promised. Sapphire Britt Halliday has claimed in the Supreme Court of Victoria that her mother, Deborah Lakshmi Halliday, promised her a share of the family's 70-hectare farm in the central Victorian town of Macedon nearly two decades ago following the death of her father, Garnet Halliday. Mr Halliday was a senior executive for West Australian mining company Paladin when he died in a 2007 plane crash in Malawi, Africa, aged 50. He was also the owner of a farm and cattle-breeding business Waterford Charolais, valued at about $3 million at the time. Other assets in his estate include $26 million shares in Paladin resources and a $1.6 million life insurance policy. The court heard Mr Halliday's will left $50,000 to his son from a previous marriage, Kaden, with the rest to go to his wife, Deborah Halliday. His son subsequently challenged the will and received a further payout. Sapphire Halliday, then 18, claimed in court that her mother promised her at the time that if she didn't make a similar claim, she would eventually receive an interest in the farm worth about $2 million, which she believed to be equal to her half-brother's claim, along with a 50 per cent share in the cattle. The court heard Sapphire Halliday's mother also vowed to leave her own share of the farm to her daughter in her will if the farm was never sold, and if she helped run the family business. Sapphire Halliday told the court she gave up her right to challenge the will and her plans to study agriculture at university in light of her mother's assurances, before working on the farm for below-award wages for more than a decade. Deborah Halliday denied making the promise and argued that parts of the alleged promise to her daughter were legally non-binding regardless. The court heard Deborah Halliday is now in the process of selling the farm to pay off mounting debts. 'The farm is mine' In text messages from May 2023 tendered to the court, Deborah Halliday told her daughter, "I hoped to pay you out like I paid [Mr Halliday's son]" but said "I just cannot pay you out at the moment." Sapphire Halliday's court documents also allege her mother told her at another point "the farm is mine". Sapphire Halliday lodged a caveat over the farm on July 1, 2025, claiming total interest over the farm on the grounds of "estoppel" — a legal claim arguing that it would be unfair for her mother to go back on a promise she relied on. Deborah Halliday told the court she didn't know her daughter was making a claim on the property until she received a solicitor's letter three days later. The court heard Deborah Halliday suffered a stroke in 2021, which made it difficult to run a business that had been trading at a loss for several years. The court also heard that since late 2023, Deborah Halliday had borrowed close to $1 million against the farm from several parties: a private couple; a litigation funder to cover her legal costs; and a third lender to ease cashflow. Court documents showed the total debt is about $2.5 million, and that two of those lenders have since lodged their own caveats. In an affidavit, her solicitor said Deborah Halliday "does not have enough money to support herself" and had no other property or steady income. The farm is currently estimated to be worth between $14 million and $15 million. Associate Justice Barrett found Sapphire Halliday had established a prima facie case for proprietary estoppel, but said a claim to two-thirds of the farm's value was stronger than her claim to the whole property without any debt. He noted the text messages she relied on to support her case referred to a payment of between $1.5 million and $2 million, or a percentage of the farm's sale price, rather than a claim to the entire property. The court also weighed the risk to Deborah Halliday's creditors against the risk to Sapphire Halliday's claim, and found the balance of convenience favoured letting the sale go ahead. Associate Justice Barrett ordered the caveat removed, on the condition that $2.5 million was paid into court or an agreed trust account, securing the value of Sapphire Halliday's claim and the debts secured against the farm since she lodged it, while the claim is heard in court. No trial date was set. Mediation is listed for March 2027.