IN THE ESTATE OF PHYLLIS MAY ENGELHARDT DECEASED

In the case concerning the estate of Phyllis May Engelhardt, the application before the court was to admit a photocopy of the deceased's Will and the original codicil to probate. The original Will was lost or misplaced, leading to a presumption of revocation. The primary dispute was whether the presumption of revocation could be rebutted to allow the photocopy of the Will and the original codicil to be admitted to probate.

The court had to determine whether the presumption of revocation arising from the loss of the original Will could be rebutted. It needed to consider whether there was sufficient evidence to suggest that the Will was lost or misplaced rather than destroyed with the intention of revoking it. The court also had to assess whether the photocopy of the Will was an accurate representation of the deceased's last Will and whether an appropriate search had been conducted to locate the original Will.

The court found that there was sufficiently strong evidence to rebut the presumption of revocation. The Will was a careful and complete disposition of the deceased's property, and there was no evidence suggesting that the deceased intended to change or revoke her Will. The fact that a photocopy of the Will with the original codicil attached was found suggested that the original Will was more likely lost or misplaced rather than destroyed. The court concluded that the deceased intended the Will and codicil to remain valid and did not intend to revoke them. Therefore, the court ordered that the photocopy of the Will dated 2 August 1982 and the original codicil dated 15 May 1996 be admitted to probate.