Williamson v Pay

Williamson v Pay involved the succession dispute over the estate of Meryl Nola Williamson, who passed away on 22 February 2018. The applicants, Kara and Leah Williamson, the granddaughters of the deceased, sought to vary the orders made by Boddice J on 26 September 2019. The court had revoked the grant of probate to Ronald Raymond Pay, the respondent, and ordered him to produce the original grant of probate of the deceased’s last will into the registry of the court. The applicants sought to vary the orders as the original of the will could not be located. The central issue before the court was whether it was appropriate to grant probate to a copy of the penultimate will of the deceased, which was dated 22 March 2013.

The court examined the circumstances surrounding the lost will and the availability of a copy. It was evident that the 2013 will existed, as there were copies available, and it had revoked all previous wills. The court considered the presumption that if the will could not be produced to the court, it was destroyed by the testator with the intention of revoking it. However, the court found that the deceased had intended the will to be safely in the hands of solicitors who could act upon it upon her death. Therefore, the court held that it was appropriate to grant probate to a copy of the will, following the precedents set in Re Ambrose and Frizzo v Frizzo. The court concluded that all five preconditions for the admission to probate of a copy of a will were satisfied.

As a result, the court ordered that Order 3 made by Boddice J on 26 September 2019 be set aside, and in its place, pursuant to s 6, Succession Act 1981 and r 603(1)(h) of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999, subject to the formal requirements of the Registrar, Letters of Administration, with the photocopy of the signed will of Meryl Nola Williamson deceased dated 23 March 2013, be granted to Australian Unity Trustees Limited. The applicants' costs of the application were to be paid on the indemnity basis out of the estate of the late Meryl Nola Williamson as agreed or assessed.