Wild v Meduri [2024] NSWCA 230

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Wild v Meduri [2024] NSWCA 230 Hearing dates: 17-19 October 2023 Date of orders: 26 September 2024 Decision date: 26 September 2024 Before: Bell CJ at [1]; White JA at [281]; Kirk JA at [333] Decision: Proceedings 2023/93737 Appeal be dismissed with costs. Proceedings 2023/93752 Appeal be dismissed with costs. Catchwords: SUCCESSION – contested probate – testamentary capacity – lack of knowledge and approval – where primary judge's findings were predicated upon his view of the credibility of the witnesses assessed in the context of the whole body of evidence including contemporaneous medical records and the views of joint experts – Fox v Percy – where lay evidence was diametrically opposed – where no contemporaneous file notes made by the solicitor who prepared the will LEGAL PRACTITIONERS – solicitors – whether the primary judge erred in his assessment of the evidence of the solicitor who prepared the will on the basis that the solicitor was also the solicitor on record for the Respondents – where the primary judge held that the solicitor should have ceased to act earlier than he did APPEALS – from findings of fact – inferences from primary facts – Jones v Dunkel inference – where a witness swore affidavits in support of the Respondents' case but was not called by the Respondents – where the witness was called by the Appellant but did not appear and a bench warrant was not issued – whether it was natural to expect the witness to have been called – where the witness was a family member with mental health issues and associated vulnerability EVIDENCE – witness evidence – affidavits – use of direct speech to recount past conversations of which a witness recalls only the gist – where direct speech is prefaced with the phrase "words to the following effect" ESTOPPEL – equitable estoppel – estoppel by encouragement – proprietary estoppel – estoppel by acquiescence – where primary judge's findings as to estoppel expressed in the alternative and as a contingency – no issue of principle Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) ss 29, 61-62 Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) ss 55, 76, 78, 135 140 Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW) ss 75A, 101 Legal Profession Uniform Law Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules 2015 (NSW) r 27 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) rr 2.1, 2.3(k), 31.1 Cases Cited: Allstate Life Insurance Co v Australia New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (No 5) (1996) 64 FCR 73 Attwell v Morgan [2019] WASC 182 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v BlueScope Steel Ltd (No 3) [2021] FCA 1147; (2021) 157 ACSR 77 Banks v Goodfellow (1870) LR 5 QB 549 Bathrick v Detroit Post and Telegraph Co, 50 Mich 629, 637; 16 NW 172, 175 (1883) BM Sydney Building Materials Pty Ltd v AWT Building Group (Aust) Pty Ltd [2019] NSWSC 421 Briginshaw v Briginshaw (1938) 60 CLR 336; [1938] HCA 34 Carr v Homersham (2018) 97 NSWLR 328; [2018] NSWCA 65 Chen v Chu [2024] NSWSC 1139 Chu v Lin, Gold Stone Capital Pty Ltd [2024] FCA 766 Commonwealth v Riley (1984) 5 FCR 8 Connex Group Australia Pty Ltd v Butt [2004] NSWSC 379 Craig-Bridges v NSW Trustee and Guardian [2017] NSWCA 197 Croft v Sanders [2019] NSWCA 303 Crown Melbourne Limited v Cosmopolitan Hotel (Vic) Pty Ltd (2016) 260 CLR 1; [2016] HCA 26 Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v The Country Care Group Pty Ltd (Ruling No 1) [2020] FCA 1670 Drivas v Jakopovic (2019) 100 NSWLR 505; [2019] NSWCA 218 Fox v Percy (2003) 214 CLR 118; [2003] HCA 22 Gan v Xie [2023] NSWCA 163; (2023) 378 FLR 458 Hamilton-Smith v George (2006) 247 FCR 238; [2006] FCA 1551 Hampson v Hampson [2010] NSWCA 359 J and E Vella Pty Ltd v Hobson [2023] NSWCA 234 Jones v Dunkel (1959) 101 CLR 298; [1959] HCA 8 Kane's Hire Pty Ltd v Anderson Aviation Australia Pty Ltd [2023] FCA 381 Kerr v Estate of Badran [2004] NSWSC 735 Key v Key [2010] 1 WLR 2020; [2010] EWHC 408 Kuhl v Zurich Financial Services Australia Ltd (2011) 243 CLR 361; [2011] HCA 11 Lantrak Holdings Pty Ltd v Yammine [2023] FCAFC 156 Lee v Lee (2019) 266 CLR 129; [2019] HCA 28 Legione v Hateley (1983) 152 CLR 406; [1983] HCA 11 Lim v Lim [2022] NSWSC 454 Lim v Lim [2023] NSWCA 84 Ling v Pang [2023] NSWCA 112 Lithgow City Council v Jackson (2011) 244 CLR 352; [2011] HCA 36 LMI Australasia Pty Ltd v Baulderstone Hornibrook Pty Ltd (2001) 53 NSWLR 31; [2001] NSWSC 688 LMI Australasia Pty Limited v Baulderstone Hornibrook Pty Limited [2001] NSWSC 886 Loupos v Demirgelis [2008] NSWSC 1207 Petrovski v Nasev; Estate of Janakievska [2011] NSWSC 1275 Queensland v Masson [2020] HCA 28; (2020) 94 ALJR 785 R v Noble [2002] 1 Qd R 432; [2000] QCA 523 R v Wright (1985) 19 A Crim R 17 Re Griffith; Easter v Griffith (1995) 217 ALR 284 Revie v Druitt [2005] NSWSC 902 Salmon v Albarran [2023] NSWSC 1238; (2023) 414 ALR 36 Tobin v Ezekiel (2012) 83 NSWLR 757; [2012] NSWCA 285 Vagg v McPhee (2013) 85 NSWLR 154; [2013] NSWCA 29 Watson v Foxman (1995) 49 NSWLR 315 White Pointer Investments Pty Ltd v Creative Academy Group Pty Ltd [2023] NSWSC 817 Zorbas v Sidiropoulous (No 2) [2009] NSWCA 197 Texts Cited: J D Heydon, Cross on Evidence (7th ed, 2004, LexisNexis) J D Heydon, Cross on Evidence (13th ed, 2021, Lexis Nexis) J H Wigmore, Wigmore on Evidence (3rd ed, Little, Brown and Co., 1978) Justice A Robertson, "Affidavit Evidence" [2014] Federal Judicial Scholarship 3 S Odgers, Uniform Evidence Law (19th ed, 2024, Thomson Reuters) H Stowe, A Vial, H Paterson and M Temler, "Conversational evidence: A stake in the heart of 'direct speech' & the psychology of conversational memory" (2023, Summer) Bar News, Journal of the NSW Bar Association 50 J P Bryson QC, "How to Draft an Affidavit" (1985) 1 Australian Bar Review 250 Australian Law Reform Commission's Interim Report on Evidence (ALRC 26, 1985) W Wills, Wills on the Law of Evidence (3rd ed, 1938, Stevens & Sons) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Rose Marie Wild (Appellant) Dominic Meduri (First Respondent) John Meduri (Second Respondent) Richard John Neal (Third Respondent) Representation: Counsel: N Owens SC with N Kirby (Appellant) J Needham SC with A Joseph (First and Second Respondents)