Yu v Yu

The case of Yu v Yu involved a dispute over the construction of the will of Karter Yu, who died in 2011, leaving an informal will on his computer. The estate comprised various assets, including bank accounts, personal effects, unpaid employee entitlements, superannuation, and life insurance proceeds. The will bequeathed the deceased’s “cash” to be divided among five individuals, with the remainder to be handled by the executor at their discretion. The primary issue before the court was whether the superannuation, life insurance proceeds, and employee entitlements constituted the “cash” referred to in the will.

The court considered the principles of will construction, emphasizing that words in a will should be given their ordinary and grammatical meaning. The court found that the term “cash” in the will referred to the funds in the deceased’s bank accounts, specifically those in his Westpac Choice account and UBank Savings Account. The court ruled that the superannuation, life insurance proceeds, and employee entitlements were not intended to be part of the “cash” bequeathed in the will. Instead, these assets formed part of the residue to be handled by the executor at their discretion.

The court concluded that the funds from the specified bank accounts were part of the “cash” bequeathed to the named individuals, while the other assets, including the superannuation, life insurance proceeds, and employee entitlements, were part of the residue of the estate. The court granted the applicant the liberty to distribute the entitlements under paragraph 3 of the will to the specified individuals. The court also ordered that the applicant’s costs of the application be paid out of the deceased’s estate on an indemnity basis.