George Sclavos was a well-known member of his community in Leppington where her owned a pharmacy. George never married, never had children, and was 65 years old when he died suddenly of a heart attack in August 2013.

Okan Yesilhat was 30 years younger than George. It therefore garnered more than a little attention and surprise when, after George’s death, Okan claimed that for 14 years they had been having a secret same-sex relationship.

This secret relationship was the basis of Okan’s legal claims in relation to George's estate:

a. his claim for family provision from George’s extensive estate, worth $6m at his death,

b. his claim that extensive funds he had received from George were gifts and not loans,

c. his claim that the George’s informal will had been fabricated.

The big question was, did George and Okan really have a secret 14-year relationship or was the whole thing a fantasy, an elaborate story and elaborate deception intended to fleece the estate?

Citation:

• Yesilhat v Calokerinos [2015] NSWSC 1028

• Calokerinos, Executor of the Estate of the late George Sclavos v Yesilhat [2017] NSWSC 666 (9 June 2017)

• Calokerinos, Executor of the Estate of the late George Sclavos v Yesilhat (No 2) [2019] NSWSC 584 (22 May 2019)

• Calokerinos, Executor of the Estate of the late George Sclavos v Yesilhat (No 3) [2019] NSWSC 1752 (13 December 2019)

• Yesilhat v Calokerinos [2021] NSWCA 110 (28 May 2021)