In the Will and one Codicil of Julia Lesley Cleland deceased

The case involved an application to admit a handwritten document by the deceased, Julia Lesley Cleland, to probate as a codicil to her will. The applicant, Robert David McKinnon Cleland, sought to have the document recognised as a valid codicil despite it not complying with the formal requirements set out in section 10 of the Succession Act 1981 (Qld). The legal issues centred on whether the document was intended by the deceased to alter her will and whether the court had the discretion to dispense with the execution requirements under section 18 of the same Act. The court had to determine if the document, despite not meeting the statutory criteria, still expressed the deceased's intentions to amend her will.

The court examined the circumstances surrounding the creation of the document and the intentions of the deceased. It considered whether the document was genuinely intended as a codicil and whether there was evidence of the deceased's intention to alter her will. The court also assessed whether the strict compliance with the formalities in section 10 was necessary given the context and the clear intention of the deceased. It ultimately decided that the document was indeed a codicil, intended to effect an alteration of the will, and that the court had the discretion to admit it to probate despite the non-compliance with the statutory requirements.

In conclusion, the court granted the application and admitted the handwritten document as a codicil to the deceased's will. The court found that the document reflected the deceased's intentions to amend her will and that dispensing with the strict formalities was appropriate in this case. The will and the codicil were admitted to probate in solemn form, and the costs of the application were to be paid out of the deceased's estate on an indemnity basis. The court's decision provided clarity on the admissibility of informal codicils when the clear intention of the deceased to amend their will is evident.