Estate of John James Dunn; Anderson v Scrivener [2002] NSWSC 900

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Estate of John James Dunn; Anderson v Scrivener [2002] NSWSC 900 CURRENT JURISDICTION: Equity - Probate List FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 119515/01 HEARING DATE(S) : 26 September 2002 JUDGMENT DATE : 17 October 2002

Donald Anderson (Plaintiff) PARTIES : John Scrivener (First Defendant) Kerry Yuile (Second Defendant) JUDGMENT OF : Campbell J

R Wilson (Plaintiff) COUNSEL : M Willmott (First Defendant) P Cook (Second Defendant) Peninsula Law (Plaintiff) SOLICITORS : Beswick Solicitors (First Defendant) Brennan Blair & Tipple (Second Defendant) CATCHWORDS : SUCCESSION - WILLS, PROBATE AND ADMINISTRATION - probate and letters of administration - whether document should be admitted to probate under section 18A Wills, Probate and Administration Act 1898 - costs in application under section 18A Wills, Probate and Administration Act 1898 - PROCEDURE - costs - application to determine whether a paper should be admitted to probate under section 18A Wills, Probate and Administration Act 1898 LEGISLATION CITED : Wills, Probate and Administration Act 1898 Hatsatouris v Hatsatouris [2001] NSWCA 408 CASES CITED : In the Estate of Masters (Deceased); Hill v Plummer (1994) 33 NSWLR 446 Re Estate of Paul Francis Hodges Deceased; Shorter v Hodges (1988) 14 NSWLR 698 DECISION : Paper not admitted to probate

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

CAMPBELL J

17 OCTOBER 2002

119515/01 ESTATE OF JOHN JAMES DUNN; ANDERSON v SCRIVENER JUDGMENT 1 HIS HONOUR: John James Dunn ("the Testator") died on 18 September 2001 at his home at 15 Pretty Beach Road, Pretty Beach. He was a widower aged 77 at the time of his death. His wife, Monica, had died in 1993. He had worked as a professional fisherman until he retired in 1988. The last will he made was one which he executed on 25 October 2000. After his death two pieces of paper were found, which bore on his testamentary wishes. Only one of those pieces of paper, however, is itself arguably testamentary. The question in the present proceedings is whether that piece of paper should be admitted to probate, along with the Will of 25 October 2000. 2 The Testator's estate was sworn for probate purposes with a net value of a little over $1 million. In broad terms, the estate consisted of the following: house at 14 Pretty Beach Road, Pretty Beach $600,000 furniture and personal effects $1,000 1997 Toyota Camry motor vehicle $25,000 money deposited with St George Bank and NAB $415,000 cash and current debts $1,600