Williams v Lawson [1999] NSWSC 844

New South Wales Supreme Court CITATION : Williams v Lawson [1999] NSWSC 844 CURRENT JURISDICTION : Equity Division Probate List FILE NUMBER(S) : 115918/98 HEARING DATE(S) : 20 August 1999 JUDGMENT DATE : 20 August 1999

Noel Heywood Williams (Plaintiff/Cross-Defendant) PARTIES : William Bernard Patrick Lawson (First Defendant/Cross-Claimant) National Heart Foundation of Australia (NSW Division) (Second Defendant) New South Wales Cancer Council (Third Defendant) JUDGMENT OF : Windeyer J at 1

Ms K Burke (Plaintiff/Cross-Defendant) COUNSEL : Mr J. Wilson (First Defendant/Cross-Claimant) Mr Graham (Second and Third Defendants) McIntosh McPhillamy & Co (Plaintiff/Cross-Defendant) SOLICITORS : King Cain (First Defendant/Cross-Claimant) Bartier Perry (Second and Third Defendants) CATCHWORDS : WILLS PROBATE AND ADMINISTRATION - informal wills -documents signed by deceased which if valid as testamentary documents, disposed of valuable rural property - some formal words used - evidence intended to have immediate effect - admitted to Probate under s18A ACTS CITED : Wills Probate Administration Act 1898 s18A Supreme Court Rules Pt52A r37A DECISION :

7 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES EQUITY DIVISION PROBATE LIST

WINDEYER J

Friday 20 August 1999

115918/98 NOEL HEYWOOD WILLIAMS v WILLIAM BERNARD PATRICK LAWSON & 2 ORS (THE ESTATE OF DOUGLAS KEITH CALLAGHAN)

JUDGMENT 1 HIS HONOUR: Douglas Keith Callaghan died on 5 August 1998 aged eighty-four. He left a will dated 4 May 1988 which appointed the plaintiff, Mr Williams, and his solicitor Mr Dalziel, as executors, gave his property at Bathurst to his housekeeper Josephine Nairne, and gave the residue of the estate in equal shares to the National Heart Foundation of Australia and the New South Wales State Cancer Council. 2 By a codicil to that will dated 26 March 1990, he expressed the wish that William Bernard Patrick Lawson, who is the first defendant in these proceedings and the cross-claimant, be engaged by his trustees to advise them on any matters relating to the supply and reticulation of water and fencing on his rural properties. Otherwise he confirmed his will. 3 Mr Dalziel, as I have said, is a solicitor and had acted for the deceased for a long time. He, however, renounced probate. Mr Williams applied for a grant of probate of the will and codicil and disclosed in accordance with the rules that there were documents dated 22 April 1996 and 22 July 1998 which may have been documents embodying the testamentary intentions of the deceased, in this case, to amend his formal documents, namely the will and codicil. The documents are written on each side of one piece of paper which appears to have been torn from a journal. It is clear that part of the full page has been torn off but I do not think that anything turns on that. 4 The first document has a date at the top "Monday April 22 1996". After that appears the words "Wed. July 22/98. See over". It is obvious those words were added at a later date. The document then says: I Douglas Keith Callaghan make this order in the event of my death, and in consideration of the affairs of my estate, William Bernard Patrick Lawson (known as 'Bill') is to be paid $800 per week to attend to the work involved in the disposal of the said estate.