-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Where an executor has concern as to a will-maker’s capacity, the appropriate course of action is to seek probate in solemn form. Public Trust v The Cancer Society of New Zealand, Otago and Southland Division Incorporated provides a useful example of the importance of contemporary evidence of capacity (where incapacity was not identified by the person taking … Continue reading
Ball v Saint relates to an application for leave to apply for security for costs. The plaintiffs in the main proceedings seek probate in solemn form of the deceased’s final will. The first defendant alleges that the final will is invalid on the grounds of a lack of testamentary capacity and or undue influence. The … Continue reading
Christie v Foster relates to complex inter-jurisdictional matters. However, one aspect of the case relates to the more prosaic question regarding the role of the executor and when this takes legal effect. This is considered in Christie v Foster as follows at [62] to [66]: [62] The Irish executors have applied for probate, but their … Continue reading
Fox v Fox relates to a claim by an executor of the estate of Mrs Fox who required the assistance of the Court to conclude the administration of the estate by selling land and distributing the proceeds of sale according to a will. The executor’s impediment to doing so was that two of the properties … Continue reading
On 17 July 2016 the Sunday Star Times reported about a family at war over a mansion with an opening quote that read “Lawyers say the judiciary are increasingly overturning wills in family disputes.” The dispute ended up in the High Court, firstly regarding an application for the removal of the trustees and secondly a … Continue reading
The great tragedy of any will that omits children, or provides for a grossly disproportionate split, is the difficulty to assess the whys and hows of the matter when the who is dead. Matters can be further complicated when the sole recipient of their parent’s bounty is also the sole executor. Consider for example Estate … Continue reading
Matters of Trust 