Ruling deems formal will made 17 years prior revoked
New Zealand’s High Court has declared a 2018 handwritten diary note – cancelling all previous wills and stating the testator’s wishes for cremation, funeral expenses, and estate distribution – as his last will and deemed his 2001 formal will revoked.
In Estate of Hughes [2026] NZHC 352, a law firm drafted the formally witnessed will dated 5 April 2001, which appointed an executor/trustee and purported to divide the estate residue into 100 parts among the testator’s mother and four other beneficiaries.
Under clause 3(c)(i) of the 2001 will, the mother would receive “Five (50) parts” of the estate residue. A drafting error led to a conflict between the written word “Five” and the numeral “50”, resulting in ambiguity.
Across multiple diaries, the testator handwrote and signed entries dated 5 January 2009, 14 December 2009, 1 January 2014, 4 January 2015, and 6 August 2018, which amounted to informal wills.
The 2014, 2015, and 2018 entries – which contained consistent testamentary intentions – explicitly cancelled all prior wills. Nothing suggested that the testator had changed his mind since the 2018 entry, which was the most recent and comprehensive.
On 13 June 2024, the testator passed away in Queenstown. His mother travelled there to clean out his room and gather his belongings. While doing so, she discovered her son’s diaries.
Under s 14 of the Wills Act 2007, the mother applied to declare the 2018 handwritten diary note valid as her son’s last will and revoke the 2001 formal will. The four other beneficiaries named in the 2001 will consented to the mother’s requested orders.
The High Court of New Zealand issued orders to:
First, the court ruled that the application met the three gateway requirements in s 14(1) of the Wills Act:
Next, the court held that the 2018 diary note expressed the testator’s testamentary intentions under s 14(2). The court explained that the note, which was not an isolated document, showed that he considered what he wished to occur upon his death and how to distribute his estate.
Lastly, the court found the diary note authentic, based on the mother’s description of how she found it and her confirmation of his handwriting and signature, as supported by the affidavits of consent.
