More than a number

Re the estate of Ian Douglas Dobson relates to an application for probate in solemn form necessitated due to questions arising as the will-maker’s testamentary capacity. The relevant time-line is:

• 2 March 2022 – Mr Dobson scored 10 out of 30 in a Mini-Addenbrookes’s cognitive examination carried out by a nurse at his doctor’s medical centre
• 1 April 2022 – Mr Dobson executes a new will
• 18 July 2022 – Mr Dobson is certified as mentally incapable

As noted at [14]:

Regardless, the weight given to this assessment was balanced against the evidence given regarding the circumstances surrounding the execution of Mr Dobson’s final will set out at [17] to [21]:

Notwithstanding the medical assessment, which on its face warranted further enquiry, Osborne J was satisfied that Mr Dobson had testamentary capacity when he executed his final will. As noted at [23] to [25]:

References

• Re the estate of Ian Douglas Dobson [2025] NZHC 1106