Estate of Chiang

The High Court of New Zealand, Wellington Registry, was presented with an application concerning the estate of Su-Yun Chiang, a Buddhist nun who passed away. The applicant, Ms Chow, sought an order to amend Chiang's will in accordance with Section 31 of the Wills Act 2007. Chiang had executed a will on 13 June 2013, appointing Ms Chow and another individual as executors and trustees. However, the will did not contain any instructions for the distribution of the residuary estate. It was established that Chiang had orally communicated to the applicant and another witness her intention to leave her residuary estate to Za Choeje Rinpoche, a Tibetan monk residing in the United States but frequently visiting New Zealand. The court was tasked with determining whether the omission of any direction regarding the distribution of the residuary estate in the will was an error or oversight, and if so, whether an order should be made to correct the will.

The court found that the omission of any direction in the will to distribute the residuary estate to Za Choeje Rinpoche was indeed an error or oversight. It appeared that Chiang had been misled by the draft form of the will, believing that it was sufficient to leave a written direction to her trustees and then provide them with an oral direction regarding the disposition of her estate. Under these circumstances, the court concluded that an order should be made under s 31(2) of the Wills Act 2007 to correct the will, thereby ensuring that Chiang's expressed intentions would be carried out.

The court determined that service of the application was not required, given the modest nature of the estate, the clarity of Chiang's instructions, and the fact that she had no family ties other than a sister who resides in Taiwan and had not expressed any interest in the estate. Consequently, the court dispensed with service of the application and ordered that the last will of Su-Yun Chiang of Auckland, dated 13 June 2013, be corrected by adding a specific paragraph directing the distribution of her residuary estate to Za Choeje Rinpoche.