Trustee for the Salvation Army (NSW) Property Trust & Anor v Becker & Anor [2007] NSWCA 136

Appeal Outcome: Special leave refused with costs by the High Court - 16 November 2007

New South Wales Court of Appeal

CITATION: Trustee for the Salvation Army (NSW) Property Trust & Anor v Becker & Anor [2007] NSWCA 136 This decision has been amended. Please see the end of the judgment for a list of the amendments.

HEARING DATE(S): 14 & 15 May 2007

JUDGMENT DATE: 15 June 2007

JUDGMENT OF: Mason P at 1; Ipp JA at 2; McColl JA at 137

DECISION: 1. Appeal dismissed. 2. Appellants to pay the costs of the appeal.

CATCHWORDS: SUCCESSION – wills, probate and administration – validity of a will – knowledge and approval of the will – whether the testatrix approved of the contents of her will – undue influence and fraud – whether such concepts must be pleaded separately – whether the testatrix was coerced into, and did not intend and desire, the impugned disposition – whether the principal beneficiary made a wilfully false statement to gain for herself a benefit under the will – whether there existed a 'grand plan' on the part of the principal beneficiary to acquire the primary asset in the will - COSTS – whether the circumstances of this case justified the departure from the ordinary rule regarding costs in probate proceedings, namely, that costs should follow the event – Calderbank offers – whether there existed an element of genuine compromise in certain Calderbank offers made to the charities – whether the charities acted reasonably in continuing the case after the Calderbank offer had been made – whether, generally speaking, there exists a role for offers of compromise in probate actions

Abalos v Australian Postal Commission (1990) 171 CLR 167 Barry v Butlin (1838) 2 Moo PC 480 Boyse v Rossborough (1857) 6 HLC 2 Bridgewater v Leahy (1998) 194 CLR 457 Buckley v Maddocks (1891) 12 LR (NSW) Eq 277 Burns 'Elders and Testamentary Undue Influence in Australia' (2005) 28(1) University of New South Wales Law Journal 145 Colgate Palmolive v Cussons (1993) 118 ALR 248 Craig v Lamoureux [1920] AC 349 Devries v Australian National Railways Commission (1993) 177 CLR 472 Estate Late Hazel Ruby Grounds Page v Sedawie Re [2005] NSWSC 1311 Fox v Percy (2003) 214 CLR 118 Hall v Hall (1868) LR 1 P & D 481 In the Estate of Fuld [1968] P 765 Kerridge 'Wills Made in Suspicious Circumstances: The Problem of the Vulnerable Testator' (2000) 59 Cambridge Law Journal 310 Leichhardt Municipal Council v Green [2004] NSWCA 341 CASES CITED: Lowe v Guthrie [1909] AC 278 Miller v Jones [1999] NSWCA 467 Nock v Austin (1918) 25 CLR 419 Re Stott [1980] 1 All ER 259 Reginald Alfred Becker v Public Trustee of New South Wales & 2 ors [2006] NSWSC 743 Reginald Alfred Becker v Public Trustee of New South Wales & 2 ors [2006] NSWSC 1146 Revie v Druitt [2005] NSWSC 902 Ridge 'Equitable Undue Influence and Wills' (2004) 120 Law Quarterly Review 617 Riding v Hawkins (1889) 14 PD 56 Stanley v Mechler [2004] NSWSC 196 The Public Trustee v Mullane (Unreported Supreme Court of New South Wales Powell J 12 June 1992) White v White & Cato (1862) 2 Sw & Tr 504 Williams v Goude (1821) 1 Hag Ecc 577 Wingrove v Wingrove (1885) 11 PD 81 Winter v Crichton Estate of Galieh (1991) 23 NSWLR 116