Diedler v Borowiec

In the case of Diedler v Borowiec, the plaintiffs, JG Diedler and his wife, sought to challenge the validity of a will executed by their son, who had passed away in 2018. The defendant, Ms Borowiec, was contesting the will, arguing that the deceased lacked testamentary capacity at the time of its execution due to a longstanding delusional disorder. The matter was before the Supreme Court of Western Australia, where the plaintiffs sought to have the defendant's application for summary judgment dismissed.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the plaintiffs' claim of testamentary capacity could be disposed of in a summary manner. The court had to determine if the unchallenged evidence of the deceased's longstanding delusional disorder, which was affecting his mind at the time of the will's execution, was sufficient to establish that the deceased lacked testamentary capacity. Additionally, the court had to consider whether the plaintiffs could establish testamentary capacity to the requisite standard in light of the unchallenged diagnosis.

The court found that the plaintiffs' case was dependent on the unpleaded presumption that the deceased had testamentary capacity when the 2018 will was drafted and/or executed. Given the unchallenged evidence of the deceased's longstanding delusional disorder affecting his mind at the time of the will's execution, the court held that there was no possible basis upon which the plaintiffs could establish testamentary capacity to the requisite standard. The court further found that the plaintiffs' evidence, even at its highest, could not support a finding that the deceased had a mind free from a disorder that poisoned his affections for Ms Borowiec. Consequently, the court held that the plaintiffs' case was doomed to fail, and granted the defendant's application for summary judgment.

The final orders of the court were that the plaintiffs' claim was dismissed with costs to be paid by the plaintiffs to the defendant.