Little v Hammond

Jason Gilbert Little applied to the Supreme Court of Queensland for several declarations and orders regarding the estate of the late Ashlee Mullock. The applicants sought a declaration under section 18 of the Succession Act 1981 that a handwritten document signed by Ashlee Mullock, dated 5 December 2006, forms his will. The applicant also sought that the execution requirements for the will be dispensed with, and that he be granted administration of the estate with the will annexed. The respondents, the deceased's intended beneficiaries, were the children of a deceased friend of the deceased, and there were no known relatives of the deceased.

The central legal issue was whether the handwritten document signed by the deceased could be recognised as a valid will, despite not having been witnessed as required by section 10 of the Succession Act. The court had to determine if the deceased intended the document to form his will under section 18 of the Act. Given the deceased's apparent contemplation of suicide, the court considered whether the document could still be considered a testamentary document.

The court found that the evidence, including the forensic document examiner's report and the circumstances surrounding the deceased's death, indicated that the deceased intended the document to form his will. The court was satisfied that the deceased signed the document while contemplating suicide, and that the document expressed his testamentary intentions. The court concluded that the document should be recognised as the deceased's will, and that the execution requirements should be dispensed with. The court granted the orders sought by the applicant, including a declaration that the handwritten document forms the deceased's will, dispensing with the execution requirements, and granting administration of the estate with the will annexed to the applicant. The court also ordered that the applicant's costs be paid by the estate on an indemnity basis.