\u2018The Boxing Day epiphany\u2019<\/p>\n
Mary-Ann de Mestre, principal of Sydney law firm M de Mestre Lawyers, is a lecturer in succession law at Macquarie University.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year, there\u2019s a kind of \u2018post-Christmas will rush\u2019,\u201d de Mestre said of requests for advice.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople call it the Boxing Day epiphany. Suddenly, after the relatives leave, the credit card bills arrive, and someone inevitably cracks a joke about who\u2019s getting what in the family, people realise it\u2019s probably a good time to finally sort out their affairs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even without a summertime surge in inquiries, experts predict 2026 will be another busy year for disputes about wills and inheritances. These are some of the key lessons from court fights this year.<\/p>\n
DIY and \u2018iPhone wills\u2019<\/p>\n
Informal wills \u2013 which don\u2019t meet formal requirements relating to signatures and witnesses \u2013 are legally fraught.<\/p>\n
This year, the state\u2019s top court, the NSW Court of Appeal, found a note on an iPhone<\/a> and an unsigned document attached to an email<\/a> were legally valid as the final, informal wills of wealthy Sydneysiders. The Supreme Court found a journal note was also valid.<\/p>\n But lawyers warn that informal wills can leave family members with a large legal bill because it may be difficult to prove the deceased intended it to operate as their final will. This is necessary for the courts to dispense with formal requirements.<\/p>\n WHAT IS A VALID WILL?Under NSW law, a will is\u00a0not valid<\/a>\u00a0unless it is in writing and signed by the will-maker, or another person in their presence and at their direction. That signature must be made, or acknowledged by the will-maker, in the presence of at least two witnesses.At least two of those witnesses must also attest and sign the will in the will-maker\u2019s presence.However, a court\u00a0may dispense with the formal requirements for making a will.<\/a> An informal document is \u201cthe deceased person\u2019s will \u2026 if the court is satisfied that the person intended it to form his or her will\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Corbould said that \u201ca good number of wealthy people\u201d were still using inexpensive DIY will kits<\/a> or making an informal will, such as a note on their phone. Both were risky.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople just don\u2019t like doing paperwork,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n People might baulk at paying several hundred dollars for a lawyer to draft a \u201csimple will\u201d, Corbould said, but it could save family members thousands in the future.<\/p>\n De Mestre said that \u201cbetween iPhone notes, WhatsApp messages, and Google Docs, people are increasingly treating their devices as the ultimate repository of their intentions\u201d.<\/p>\n Tech-savvy people might see informal wills as a \u201cpragmatic shortcut\u201d, she said, but it came with legal risk because they were \u201cvulnerable to attack\u201d.<\/p>\n No will? There\u2019s a way<\/p>\n Moloney said there is no legal requirement to make a will. State-based laws deal with the division of an estate where a person dies without a will. Primacy is given to spouses, or any children in the absence of a spouse.<\/p>\n \u201cRemember: if you do nothing at all, the law will presume you were content with the operation of the laws of intestacy [where a person dies without a will], which you may not want,\u201d Moloney said.<\/p>\n He warned that surviving relatives, if any, would also \u201chave to sort out who applies for a grant of letters of administration [allowing a person to administer the estate], which will take longer\u201d.<\/p>\n Family provision claims<\/p>\n