MacNairs + Wilson
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Court Accepts Text as Official Will
In an interesting will dispute case from Australia, Brisbane Supreme Court has ruled that an unsent text found on the mobile phone of a deceased man can be taken as his official will, reports the BBC.
The 55-year-old sadly committed suicide in 2016. After his death, a message was found in the drafts folder of his phone, which said the deceased wanted to leave “all that I have” to his brother and nephew. He also specified what he would like to have done with his ashes, and left details of how to access money he held in the bank and that he had hidden around the house.
In the state of Queensland, a will normally needs to be written and signed by two witnesses in order to be valid, reports the BBC. The man’s wife claimed that the text shouldn’t be taken as his will because it was never sent.
However, the judge ruled that despite the informality of the message, it was still sufficient to express his wishes and therefore should stand as his will.
An up-to-date and valid will is an important document for all adults to have in place, however, according to a recent survey by Unbiased.co.uk, as many as 60% of UK adults are currently without a will. This means that over 31 million now run the risk of dying intestate and having their estate distributed solely according to intestacy law, which may not reflect their wishes.
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