Abused Australian woman consigned to "living hell" wins millions from mother's estate

A Melbourne woman has made her father pay more than one million U.S. dollars from beyond the grave for sexually abusing her as a child.

The woman, known only as Constance Smith in court documents, sued her mother's estate in 2012 after she was left considerably less than her brothers.

The Supreme Court of Victoria agreed with Smith's affirmation that she deserved a greater share of the inheritance because her father sexually abused her as a 14-year-old girl as well as her four-year-old son years later, awarding her 1.5 million U.S. dollars.

Smith, 63, told the court via a written submission that the abuse began when her father called her into his tool shed one day after school.

"He pulled out his large hunting knife, pressed it against her stomach and threatened to "gut" her if she did not do what he wanted," Smith told the court, according to a report in The Australian newspaper on Thursday.

Smith said she told her mother, known as Abigail in court, about the abuse suffered at the hands of her father but the mother did not do enough to intervene.

"(Abigail) should have done more than that. She made me live in that house and accept my father as a loving father ... She made me stay in that house. It was a living hell," Smith said.

The court heard that Smith's father, identified as John, started abusing Smith's son, David, in 1981 prompting mental health problems and a drug habit later in David's life.

John died in 2007, leaving his 4.5-million-U.S. dollar estate to his wife, who promised that their three children would receive an equal share of the wealth when she passed away.

When Abigail passed away in 2012 Smith was left just 20 percent of the inheritance, with David receiving nothing.

"I have provided less in this will for my daughter as I consider that more than adequate provision has been made for her by me and my husband during my lifetime ... I make no provision for my grandson, as I consider that I have no duty or moral obligation to provide for him," Abigail said in her will. Endit