Concerns grow for celebrity wedding planner who robbed her own family – as she mysteriously vanishes amid mounting legal dramas
A celebrity wedding planner has sparked concern after she missed a key court date and quit her home in a ritzy suburb, just weeks after she was declared bankrupt for a second time.
The NSW Supreme Court has previously found Kashaya Nerez Williams, 39, used a forged letter to inherit her dead grandfather’s home in bitter family row over his will.
The former florist was declared bankrupt and had her assets seized in the wake of the decision, as relatives tried to recover their share of the inheritance.
Last month she was declared bankrupt yet again, and this week she was due back in court to be sentenced on traffic charges for speeding and driving while suspended.
But she failed to appear, and her former neighbours at the address she gave the court said she had abandoned the three-bedroom federation home ‘some time ago’.
The Double Bay property in Sydney’s eastern suburbs lay empty last week, with the garden appearing unkempt and no sign of life within the house.
Williams was due in Waverley Local Court on Tuesday for sentencing after she missed her previous sentencing court date in March through ‘illness’.
But Williams was a no show again as the court heard she was pulled over by police while behind the wheel of her silver Audi in Bellevue Hill on February 11.
Celebrity wedding planner Kashaya Williams (pictured with ex-husband Evan Williams) was sentenced in her absence on Tuesday
Her Double Bay Rental property has been empty for months says a neighbour
She was stopped on suspicion of speeding and pulled over for a random breath test when officers discovered her licence was suspended.
Magistrate Michael Barko fined her $330 in her absence for exceeding the speed limit and $880 for driving on a suspended licence.
Her latest troubles comes a month after she faced bankruptcy a second time.
The mother-of-one suffered a major loss in the Federal Circuit and Family Court in her battle to annul her bankruptcy.
Her case was dismissed with costs incurred on March 27.
In a judgement seen by Daily Mail Australia her bankruptcy has been extended to 2032 because of non-compliance.
She was first declared bankrupt after her family turned on her in a row over her wealthy grandfather’s will.
Relatives of top radiologist Alan Grant, who died in 2019 at the age of 98, have been ripped apart by years of legal wrangling over his estate.
Kashaya & Co put together a gender reveal party for Bachelor couple Anna Heinrich and Tim Robards (above)
The derelict property in Sydney’s east has overgrown lawn and a broken fences
Williams claimed her grandfather had gifted her his $900,000 home overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Killcare, on the NSW Central Coast.
But her uncle, neuroscientist Professor Seth Grant, and her aunt Tansin, successfully took Ms Williams and her mother Nerez Grant to court in 2020 to recover the property.
The NSW Supreme Court ruled the crucial letter giving her the home was a fake and Ms Williams was ‘a knowing participant in a dishonest scheme’.
Five years later, however, Williams still owes her grandfather’s estate from two court judgements against her in the epic legal battle over his will.
Ms William ran Sydney wedding business Kashaya & Co, a favourite of big-name couples such as AFL star Kieren Jack and Charlotte Goodlet, and Bachelor lovebirds Tim Robards and Anna Heinrich.
In June 2023, her ex-husband, high-profile eastern suburbs real estate agent Evan Williams, 42, pleaded guilty to common assault and intimidation of his son, but the charges were dismissed on mental health grounds.
The bankruptcy blow came after the legal wrangle over a 50-word letter that was found to have been forged for Williams to take possession of the Killcare home.
In 2021, NSW Supreme Court heard Ms William’s mother Nerez – Dr Grant’s eldest child – claimed he had handed her a letter about the property seven years ago.
Kashaya pictured with her ex-husband Evan Williams
The April 11, 2016, letter purportedly stated: ‘Dear Nerez, I want to give the Killcare house to Kashaya.
‘I want you to live there for the rest of your life. I give you a lifetime tenancy. I will pay for the transfer. Please transfer the property to Kashaya.
‘Thank you for all the care of me.’
The letter was typed except for its final word, Dr Grant’s name, signed Alan, the court judgment said.
Nerez, 67, who had enduring power of attorney over Dr Grant’s estate at the time, transferred the property to her daughter and paid the stamp duty.
But Justice John Slattery accepted evidence from a handwriting expert that Alan’s signature was forged.
Dr Grant’s son Seth called evidence from analyst Melanie Holt who said the signature appeared to have been copied from another document.’
The handwritten name… is not natural writing,’ Ms Holt found. The signature was identical to a previous autograph of Dr Grant’s from years earlier, she said.
Kashaya received the Killcare home (above) after her mother said she’d received a letter from Dr Alan Grant, requesting she ‘please’ give his property to her
The judge accepted evidence that the signature had been photocopied from another document and the letter was fabricated.
Justice Slattery later ruled that Kashaya had obtained the property in a ‘dishonest and fraudulent scheme’ involving herself and her mother.
‘They must have known that this was a fraud on Dr Grant because they were taking his last asset and putting him in a helpless position,’ the judge said in his decision.
However, in follow-up ruling, the judge noted while ‘one or other of Nerez Grant or Kashaya Williams must have been responsible’ for the forged letter, the court has not found which was responsible.
Dr Grant and his late wife Gwynneth were described as a gifted couple – with him practising medicine and her playing violin with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
They built a multimillion-dollar fortune during their 70-year marriage, which family members had benefited handsomely from.
However, the clan was left ‘deeply scarred’ by ongoing feuds which lingered on even after Mrs Grant died in 2017 and Dr Grant in 2019.
In 2020, Justice Slattery ordered the Killcare property be transferred to Seth Grant, as the administrator of his estate.
The Killcare property on the NSW Central Coast has sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean (pictured) and is tucked away in bushland
But Ms Williams and Nerez Grant appealed. They argued the judge had failed to take into account ‘expert reports’ supporting their case.
A panel of judges dismissed that appeal in 2021, ruling they had failed to identify any expert reports, or refute the handwriting expert’s testimony.
The appeal was dismissed and Nerez and Kashaya were ordered to pay Professor Grant and Tansin’s costs
