{"id":26130,"date":"2014-01-06T06:10:43","date_gmt":"2014-01-06T06:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rmolaw.com.au\/going-away-these-holidays-ensure-your-will-is-property-drafted\/"},"modified":"2025-02-24T05:19:15","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T05:19:15","slug":"going-away-these-holidays-ensure-your-will-is-property-drafted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rmolaw.com.au\/zh\/going-away-these-holidays-ensure-your-will-is-property-drafted\/","title":{"rendered":"Going Away These Holidays? Ensure Your Will Is Property Drafted!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Prior to travelling interstate\/overseas over the holiday period many people are deciding to prepare a will, as a just-in-case measure, to look after the interests of their loved ones in the event of an accident. However, unfortunately some people are either using a do-it-yourself will kit or inadvertently engaging a lawyer who does not properly draft the document.<\/p>\n<p>The Queensland Supreme Court\u2019s decision of <em>Woodgate v Tanks &amp; Ors<\/em> [2013] QSC 204 provides a perfect example of the importance of having your will properly documented so that there is no dispute about your wishes.<\/p>\n<p>This article examines the facts of the case.<\/p>\n<h3>The Facts<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 115%;\">The deceased made a will in 2010 leaving a specific gift \u201cto each of\u201d the beneficiaries \u201cin equal shares as tenants in common\u201d. The question the Court had to determine was whether the clause:<\/span>\n<ul class=\"a\">\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 115%;\">gave separate gifts of the entire nominated sum \u201cto each of\u201d the beneficiaries;,or<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 115%;\">a single gift of the nominated sum to be shared equally amongst the beneficiaries.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 115%;\">The applicants argued the latter, namely that the gift should be distributed as one single amount of $100,000 to be shared among the three beneficiaries in equal shares as tenants in common.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 115%;\">Further, the will left a specific gift to \u201cThe Catholic Church Murgon Parish\u201d and \u201cThe Catholic Church Queensland Brisbane\u201d. However, no entities by these names exist.\u00a0 Accordingly, the Court also had to decide whether the entities the deceased intended to describe could be ascertained.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>The Decision<\/h3>\n<p>In coming to their decision, the Court considered:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 115%;\">The plain and ordinary meaning of the word \u201ceach\u201d. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word \u201ceach\u201d can mean:<\/span>\n<ul class=\"a\">\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 115%;\">every (individual of a number) regarded or treated separately, or<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 115%;\">distributing a plural subject or object.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 115%;\">Whether the use of a legal term \u201ctenants in common\u201d suggested a preference for a gift of one sum of money being split three ways.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 115%;\">Whether the use of the words \u201cin equal shares\u201d suggested division and so supported a particular interpretation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 115%;\">The wording of other provisions in the will. In particular, the Court noted, there was little consistency in the drafting of the Will. However, the fact that other clauses made gifts to beneficiaries \u201cabsolutely\u201d suggested that the deceased wished for the particular gift in question to be split equally among the three beneficiaries.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 115%;\">Evidence of the knowledge and circumstances of the deceased at the time the will was made (otherwise known as the \u201carmchair rule\u201d).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 115%;\">Extrinsic evidence (pursuant to section 33C of the <em>Succession Act 1981<\/em>).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Judgment Mentioned<\/h3>\n<p>Title: Woodgate v Tanks &amp; ors [2013] QSC 204<br \/>\nDate: 9 August 2013<br \/>\nCourt: Supreme Court of Queensland<\/p>\n<h3>How We Can Help<\/h3>\n<p>Quinn &amp; Scattini Lawyers has a dedicated <a href=\"https:\/\/rmold.newwebsite.live\/expertise\/wills-estates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wills &amp; Estates<\/a> Team led by an Accredited Specialist in Succession Law, <a href=\"https:\/\/rmold.newwebsite.live\/our-people\/russell-leneham\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Russell Leneham<\/a>. If you or a loved one are not sure about the will which you have in place, arrange a meeting with one of our Wills &amp; Estates lawyers so that we can examine your existing will and if required to prepare a new one.<\/p>\n<p>By doing so, you will significantly reduce the chances of a successful challenge and save yourself (and your family) time, money and heartache.<\/p>\n<h3>Contact Us<\/h3>\n<p>Get the best representation. Contact Quinn &amp; Scattini Lawyers on\u00a0<a href=\"tel:1800999529\">1800 999 529<\/a>, email\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:mail@rmold.newwebsite.live\">mail@rmold.newwebsite.live<\/a>, or submit an enquiry below.<\/p>\n<p>We are available to meet with you at any of our local offices (<a href=\"https:\/\/rmold.newwebsite.live\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brisbane, Gold Coast, Beenleigh, Cleveland and Jimboomba<\/a>) or by telephone or video-conference.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article is for your information and interest only. It is not intended to be comprehensive, and it does not constitute and must not be relied on as legal advice. You must seek specific advice tailored to your circumstances.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prior to travelling interstate\/overseas over the holiday period many people are deciding to prepare a will, as a just-in-case measure, to look after the interests of their loved ones in the event of an accident. However, unfortunately some people are either using a do-it-yourself will kit or inadvertently engaging a lawyer who does not properly draft the document.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"expertise":[275],"class_list":["post-26130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","expertise-wills-estateswills-estate-planning"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmolaw.com.au\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmolaw.com.au\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmolaw.com.au\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmolaw.com.au\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmolaw.com.au\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rmolaw.com.au\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27087,"href":"https:\/\/rmolaw.com.au\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26130\/revisions\/27087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmolaw.com.au\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmolaw.com.au\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmolaw.com.au\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26130"},{"taxonomy":"expertise","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmolaw.com.au\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/expertise?post=26130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}