DIY Wills Kits

The importance of engaging a properly qualified and experienced Solicitor to undertake your Estate Planning Review and prepare your Will is well illustrated by the Supreme Court of Queensland decision in the case known as in the Will of Ethel Florence Panigas (deceased) and in the Will of John William Panigas (deceased).

 

In that case Mr and Mrs Panigas had made valid Wills in 2003 by appointing Solicitors to undertake the task for them. In 2011 they purchased DIY Will Kits. In the case before the Court, the Court was asked to decide whether the documents made in 2011 on the DIY Will Kit were actually valid Wills or if they were not, whether the Wills made in 2003 with the assistance of a Solicitor were valid. As Justice Henry found “the problem manifesting itself here was not a lack of capacity but, rather, lay incompetence or carelessness in completing the Will Kit”. The Court decided the Wills completed by the Solicitors in 2003 were valid and the documents that arose from the use of the Will Kits were not.

Executors Take Care

A recent decision made in the Courts of Victoria highlights the importance of comprehensive Estate Planning and the need for Executors to take particular care when they are dealing with an Estate in which they may have a conflict of interest.

In the case of Caruana and Ors v Caruana the son of the deceased was removed as the Executor of his Fathers Estate by the Court and not only was he ordered to pay his own costs of the litigation he was also ordered to pay the costs of the other parties to the litigation. This all arose because of a conflict about whether a sum of $300,000.00 which the deceased had loaned to his son during his lifetime should be repaid by the son to the Estate or not.

There are various ways in which this rather sad situation could have been avoided and illustrates very well the importance of obtaining professional legal advice when undertaking your Estate Plan, preparing your Will, and administering an Estate.