30 Aug 2021
The Court held s31 applied: evidence demonstrated the general term "nephews" did not reflect the testator's intention and the will was corrected to make clear the residue was to be divided among the sons of David Stokes as specified.
12 Oct 2020
Plaintiffs failed to discharge the onus of proving that, as at the date of death, the will constituted inadequate provision in breach of the deceased's moral duty; the will made express provision recognising relationships and the estate was modest, so the Court dismissed the claim and gave only limited weight to the hearsay caregiver statements.
12 Jun 2018
Claim dismissed: plaintiffs failed to prove an express or implied promise to reward services with testamentary provision of land and the alleged services did not clearly exceed normal family obligations; claim was very late and leave was declined as futile on the evidence; will construed to require sale and not to vest land in specie; rectification not supported; partition unnecessary and not shown to be advantageous.
2 Jun 2017
The executor was a necessary party and acted reasonably; however because the estate was small and the claimed costs were disproportionate (almost 40% of the estate), the Court reduced the applicant's claimed fees (approximate 30% reduction for counsel fees), awarded specified amounts for counsel, solicitor attendance and disbursement, and ordered that the applicant's awarded costs be paid from the residuary estate while the respondents' awarded costs be paid from the residue available to the four children of Mrs Chalklen.
22 Dec 2016
The court could admit extrinsic evidence under the armchair principle to determine the testator's intention, the reference to "four nieces" was a false descriptive error which did not vitiate the gift, and consequently the court rectified clause 4(b) to identify the residuary beneficiaries as the four children of the testator's niece (Dawn Chalklen). S31 Wills Act 2007 was inapplicable as the testator died in 1988.
10 Mar 2009
s32 could not be used because the surrounding circumstances at execution did not identify which two partners the testator intended and s32(4) bars use of the will‑maker's testamentary intentions as surrounding circumstances; however admissible evidence (solicitor's affidavit and notes) established with sufficient certainty that the testator intended the firm Wynyard Wood to be executor and s31(1)(b) authorised correction of the codicil to give effect to that intention, so the codicil was corrected to appoint the partners of Wynyard Wood at the date of death as executors.
9 Jul 2008
The phrase "my bank accounts" was uncertain on its face; under s32 the court admitted the will-maker's instructions to his solicitor which showed he intended his substantial Westpac savings (including the $20,000 deposit) to be included; s20 means the phrase applies to accounts at death and, on the evidence and by parity of account type, all three term deposits passed to the applicant after payment of debts and expenses under clause 3(a).