How can I challenge a Will?

Making sure you have a Will in place is one of the most valuable actions you can take to support and guide your loved ones after you pass away. In your Will, you can decide who is in charge, and instruct exactly how your assets should be dealt with when you die. When you have a Will, the process to administer your estate is generally cheaper and quicker. Without a Will, your assets are distributed to eligible family members according to the legal framework in the Administration Act 1969 (“Administration Act”), which may not work out how you think. The process is more complicated, takes longer, is generally more expensive and you have no say over who is in charge and who gets what. What is the process if you die without a Will? This is called \"dying intestate\". If you own assets over $15,000, then an application to the Court for Letters of Administration will be required. A person with an interest in an estate (i.e a surviving partner or spouse, or children) can apply to administer an intestate estate. The right to make the application is in order of priority under the Administration Act 1969. Some of the fundamental rules of the Administration Act 1969 are: If you have a husband, wife, civil union or de facto partner, but no living parents or children, the spouse or partner will get all of your estate. If you have a spouse or partner and also children, the spouse or partner will receive all of the personal chattels, the first $155,000 of your estate and 1/3rd of the remaining property. The other 2/3rds will go to your children. If you have a spouse or partner and no children, and living parents, the spouse or partner will receive all the personal chattels, the first $155,000 of your estate and 2/3rds of your remaining property. The remaining 1/3rd will go to the surviving parents. If there are children, but no husband or wife or civil union or de facto partner, your estate will go to your children. Before an application is made, a search has to be conducted to confirm that no valid Will exists and a search to confirm the status of children entitled to inherit. Consents from interested family members who are not applying (e.g. other children entitled to inherit) also need to be obtained. The process could become even longer and more complicated if there are disagreements about who should apply. All of this slows down what could otherwise be a straightforward process. How does this differ if you die with a Will? A Will appoints executors who have the authority to apply to the Court for a Grant of Probate, and then deal with your assets in accordance with the wishes you set out in your Will. Unlike Letters of Administration, there is no need to obtain any searches or consent, and there are no rules around who you have to leave your estate to, although you have a “moral duty” to include children and spouses/partners in some way. An application for Probate is generally cheaper and quicker. Most importantly, it puts you in control of where your estate goes. In your Will you can: Give away specific chattels i.e  jewellery, watches, cars, artwork, heirlooms, pets (yes, these are chattels) Specify gifts such as cash sums, shares Decide who will receive the balance of your estate Indicate burial wishes Nominate a legal guardian for your children if they are minor What happens in an estate administration? Assuming you have over $15,000.00 in your sole name (remembering that joint assets pass to the other co-owner automatically), then the administrator must visit a lawyer who will help them apply for a grant of Probate (if you have a valid Will) or Letters of Administration (if you die intestate). After the Court has approved the application, the administrator must find out what the assets and liabilities of your estate are and, if necessary, have assets valued and sold. Then they must pay any debts and taxes out of the estate funds. The balance is then paid out to the beneficiaries in terms of either the Will or the Administration Act rules. Generally this does not occur until at least 6 months from the date of the grant. This is because the administrator can be personally liable for distributions made within 6 months, in the event there was a claim on your estate (this could be a debt or it could be a claim by a family member). The estate could take much longer to distribute if there are a number of assets to be sold and debts to be worked through. If there is a claim on an estate, distribution could take several years. This article was first published for First Mortgage Trust, October 2024 newsletter.

We often get enquires for missing Wills. (Of course, these are not Wills that we have drafted - those are safely stored in the Holland Beckett deeds safe.) Locating a missing Will can be very stressful and locating the original requires a systematic search. If you know someone had a Will, the search must commence - without it, obtaining a grant of Probate is much more complex. If you have a copy of the will, you may be able to seek Probate of a lost Will. If the will does not surface, could it be that the person never did a Will? If so, an advertisement (discussed below) must be advertised before a grant of Letters of Administration will be issued by the Court. If a Will cannot be found, the estate may have to be distributed according to New Zealand’s intestacy laws. How to find a missing Will: Check personal records and safe places: Search the deceased’s home and personal papers. Look in safes, safety deposit boxes, and any hidden or secure places where important documents might be stored. Family and friends: Sometimes family members or close friends may have a copy of the Will or know where the Will might be. Contact their lawyer: Reach out to the lawyer who may have drafted the Will. Lawyers often (and in our view should) keep copies of their clients’ Wills. High Court: If the Will has been probated (or perhaps it was made and sealed via Court proceedings - more on this another day), the High Court might have a copy. Contact the High Court in the region where the deceased lived. Law Society advertisement: If you are unsure which lawyer might hold the Will, contact the New Zealand Law Society to place an advertisement in newsletters received by all lawyers. You can contact the Law Society to advertise for a will here: NZLS | Advertise for a will (lawsociety.org.nz) As a matter of good practice, a lawyer will not release details of a Will to anyone - that is confidential to the Will-maker during their lifetime and when they have died, it is up to the executors. The above also illustrates the need to talk to your friends and family about your Will, and where to find it should they need to. This can alleviate a lot of stress during what will be a difficult time. For any Estate and Will queries, get in touch with our specialist team at estates@hobec.co.nz.

If a Will is technically valid, the mere circumstances in which it is prepared makes the Will more vulnerable to challenge. The rule known as the “golden rule” is a measure of what might be considered best practice for lawyers in the preparation and execution of a Will. While the “golden rule” is not a rigid rule of law, it has been repeatedly emphasised by the Courts as a desirable approach for lawyers to take. The substance of the golden rule is that when a solicitor is instructed to prepare a Will for an elderly Will-maker, or for one who has been seriously ill or is making a significant change from a previous Will or conventional norms, the lawyer should arrange for a medical practitioner to prepare a medical certificate confirming whether they have the capacity and understanding needed to make a Will. The capacity certificate should be kept on file. A lawyer should also ensure they take clear file notes recording the Will-maker’s intentions and the explanation for any significant changes to the Will. Compliance with the “golden rule” does not make a Will invalid. Its purpose, as has been repeatedly emphasised by the Courts, is to assist in the avoidance or minimisation of disputes. This decision highlights the importance of clear file notes recording the Will-maker’s wishes and the need for a contemporaneous assessment of testamentary capacity. While capacity is not a determinative factor in the assessment of undue influence, the lack of acknowledgement or consideration of this issue will result in criticism from the Court. Where adequate records are not kept, the determination of a later Will challenge with respect to capacity and undue influence can be compromised. In particular, the Court may find that there is an information vacuum such that it is not possible to determine capacity or that the transaction was the result of the free exercise of an independent will of the Will-maker. Accordingly, adverse inferences may be drawn in relation to any significant change made by the Will-maker and the basis for said change. This was highlighted in a recent Court of Appeal case Gorringe v Pointon [2023] NZCA 42. This appeal concerned allegations of undue influence in relation to two Wills made by the deceased. In particular, the Court criticised the lack of adequate reasoning and evidence provided by the firm who prepared and executed these Wills. The legal executive who prepared and executed the Wills was significantly criticised for failing to follow the “golden rule”. The Court observed that: The lack of consideration given to capacity, given the Will-makers advanced age of 97 years, was surprising and remiss. The apparent lack or adequate oversight or supervision from a qualified lawyer was regrettable. The interactions with the Will-maker were notably slim as evidenced by time recording. There was insufficient probing of the Will-maker’s intentions and scant file noting of the instructions and the execution process. When cross-examined during hearing, Ms Hopkins sought to extrapolate from the circumstances to proffer an opinion on why the Will-maker changed her Will. However, there was no note of this information in the evidence which undermined its credibility. In this case, the failure to comply with the \"golden rule” greatly increased the difficulties to which this dispute had given rise and aggravated the depths of mistrust the deceased’s family had. Overall, preparing a Will can be difficult and constrained by the client’s expectation that any instruction should be dealt with efficiently and at low cost. However, it is important that careful consideration is given to all potential beneficiaries and ensuring that no-one attempts to unduly influence the views of the Will-maker. If these points are addressed, along with any issue of capacity, the Will should stand up to scrutiny in the event of a dispute. Talk to our Estate Planning Team about Wills.