Greer v Greer

In the matter of Greer v Greer, the respondent, a son of the deceased, sought to challenge the validity of a will made by his father in 2017. The will, which was made during a meeting with the deceased's daughter, revoked a 2001 will that had named the respondent as the sole beneficiary of the estate. The 2017 will divided the estate equally among the daughter and the deceased's other two children and excluded the respondent, his wife, and their children from the estate. The primary judge found that the deceased did not have testamentary capacity at the time of making the 2017 will and upheld the validity of the 2001 will.

The legal issues before the court involved determining whether the primary judge erred in her evaluation of the evidence concerning the deceased's testamentary capacity and whether she misapplied the "rational on its face" standard as articulated by the Court of Appeal in Frizzo v Frizzo. The court had to consider whether the deceased's mental state at the time of executing the 2017 will was such that he lacked testamentary capacity and if the will was rational enough to warrant a presumption of validity.

The court held that the primary judge's assessment of the evidence regarding the deceased's capacity was not flawed. Although the deceased exhibited signs of distress and confusion, particularly in interactions with Ms Watts, the primary judge concluded that these were not indicative of his general state of mind at the time of executing the will. The court also found that the primary judge did not err in applying the "rational on its face" standard. The court noted that while the will did contain provisions that could be considered unusual, the primary judge was correct in concluding that the respondent had discharged the onus of proving the deceased lacked testamentary capacity.

The appeal was dismissed, and the parties were directed to adhere to the primary judge's decision, thereby upholding the validity of the 2001 will.