Estate Moran; Teasel v Hooke [2014] NSWSC 1839

Estate Moran; Teasel v Hooke [2014] NSWSC 1839

Reading the disputed document as a whole and in light of the surrounding evidence, the Court was comfortably satisfied that the deceased intended the handwritten document dated 24 October 2013 to form her will and that the intention continued until death. The opening declaration described it as the deceased's last will and testament, the document made dispositions of property, was signed in a formal pattern on the pages, later referred to itself as 'this will', and was consistent with extrinsic evidence showing the deceased's settled intention to favour the plaintiff and protect the Greenacre residence for her. The absence of a final signature, the document remaining in a notebook, later...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
19 December 2014
Procedural Posture
Equity Division Probate List Proceeding Concerning Admission of an Informal Will to Probate Under S 8 of the Succession Act 2006 NSW / Principal Judgment on Separate Preliminary Question Whether the Disputed Document Should Be Admitted to Probate, With Case Management Directions for Remaining Issues
Outcome
The disputed handwritten document was declared to be the deceased's will, admitted to probate, and letters of administration with the will attached were granted to the plaintiff. Costs of the s 8 determination were ordered against the defendant subject to liberty to apply, with other costs reserved and further...
Legal Topics
['informal Will' 'testamentary Intention' 'probate' 'letters of Administration With the Will Annexed' 'intestacy' 'family Provision Foreshadowed' 'costs']
['succession' 'wills, Probate and Administration'] ['informal Will' 'testamentary Intention' 'probate' 'letters of Administration With the Will Annexed' 'intestacy' 'family Provision Foreshadowed' 'costs']

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Procedural Posture

Equity Division Probate List Proceeding Concerning Admission of an Informal Will to Probate Under S 8 of the Succession Act 2006 NSW / Principal Judgment on Separate Preliminary Question Whether the Disputed Document Should Be Admitted to Probate, With Case Management Directions for Remaining Issues

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the handwritten document dated 24 October 2013 should be admitted to probate as an informal will under s 8 of the Succession Act 2006 NSW.' 'Whether the deceased intended the disputed document to form her will rather than merely a draft will, planning document or instructions to a solicitor.' 'Whether any intention that the document operate as a will ceased because it was only a stop-gap document pending a later opportunity to make a formal will.' 'Whether administration of the estate should be granted to the plaintiff if the disputed document was admitted to probate.']

Ratio Decidendi

Reading the disputed document as a whole and in light of the surrounding evidence, the Court was comfortably satisfied that the deceased intended the handwritten document dated 24 October 2013 to form her will and that the intention continued until death. The opening declaration described it as the deceased's last will and testament, the document made dispositions of property, was signed in a formal pattern on the pages, later referred to itself as 'this will', and was consistent with extrinsic evidence showing the deceased's settled intention to favour the plaintiff and protect the Greenacre residence for her. The absence of a final signature, the document remaining in a notebook, later...

Court Disposition

The disputed handwritten document was declared to be the deceased's will, admitted to probate, and letters of administration with the will attached were granted to the plaintiff. Costs of the s 8 determination were ordered against the defendant subject to liberty to apply, with other costs reserved and further...

Orders

  • ['DECLARE that the document in the handwriting of Raquel Bridgette Bernadette Moran, comprising nine paginated pages bearing the date 24 October 2013, is the will of the deceased, who died on 10 April 2014.' 'ORDER that that document be admitted to probate.' 'ORDER that the plaintiff be granted letters of...