Estate of Supra

[2021] NZHC 3138

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND AUCKLAND REGISTRY

I TE KŌTI MATUA O AOTEAROA TĀMAKI MAKAURAU ROHE

CIV-2021-404-002128

[2021] NZHC 3138

UNDER

Section 14 of the Wills Act 2007

IN THE MATTER

of the Estate of GREGORY WAYNE SUPRA

AND

HELENA HENDRIKA SUPRA

Applicant

Hearing:	On the papers
Counsel:	J Armstrong for Applicant
Judgment:	19 November 2021

JUDGMENT OF WOOLFORD J

This judgment was delivered by me on Friday, 19 November 2021 at 4:00 pm pursuant to r 11.5 of the High Court Rules.

Registrar/Deputy Registrar

Solicitors:           Armstrong Murray (J Armstrong), Auckland

RE ESTATE OF SUPRA [2021] NZHC 3138 [19 November 2021]

[1]                  Gregory Wayne Supra (the deceased) died at Auckland on or about 20 August 2021. His mother, Helena Hendrika Supra, now applies under s 14 of the Wills Act 2007 for an order that a document dated 10 May 2018 be declared valid as the last will of her son.

Factual background

[2]                  The deceased was 59 years when he died. He lived with his mother. His father died in South Africa in 1994. He had never been in a legal relationship and had no children.

[3]                  The deceased worked as an insurance advisor. On 10 May 2018, he approached a colleague at work and asked him to witness the signing of his will. The deceased then produced a document headed “Last Will and Testament”. He signed it in front his colleague, who wrote his name and mobile telephone number, then signed his name and entered the date 10 May 2018.

[4]                  The document is not a valid will because the deceased did not sign the document in the presence of at least two witnesses, who each then signed the document in the presence of the deceased. In the document, which purports to be a will, the deceased appoints his mother as executor and trustee of his will. He also names his mother as the sole beneficiary of his estate.

Analysis

[5]                  Section 14 of the Wills Act empowers the Court to make an order declaring a document that appears to be a will valid if satisfied that the document expresses that deceased’s testamentary intention.

[6]                  I am so satisfied. The document was clearly intended to be a will. It is a one- a-half-page typed document. The deceased declares it to be his last will and testament and revokes all previous wills and testamentary writings made by him. He appoints his mother executor and trustee and directs her to pay all debts, mortgages, funeral and administration expenses. He sets out his various assets and their value and then directs how his estate is to “devolve”. He especially requests that his mother remain living in

their home and refers to the possibility of her moving into a retirement village and how that would be funded. Finally, the deceased expressed a wish to be cremated and for his mother to spread his ashes “at a place she feels as befitting of my life”.

[7]                  The deceased’s work colleague who witnessed his signature on the document has sworn an affidavit setting out the circumstances in which he signed the document. The deceased’s mother has also made full enquiries and searched for any earlier wills made by the deceased. She is satisfied that the deceased did not execute any earlier wills and if the document dated 10 May 2018 is not declared to be a valid will, the deceased would be wholly intestate.

[8]                  The deceased’s mother also states the deceased was not to her knowledge survived by any children, but, for the sake of certainty, she has made inquiries for the purposes of the Status of Children Act 1969 as to the existence of any child of the deceased who could claim an interest in the estate by reason only of that Act and the enactments governing the distribution of intestate estates. Those inquiries included causing a search to be made of the Register of Instruments, Declarations and Orders maintained by the Registrar-General pursuant to s 9 of the Status of Children Act 1969, and looking through the papers of the deceased that have come to her notice in the course of searching for a will made by the deceased. The result of those inquiries was that the deceased’s mother did not discover any such child.

[9]                  The deceased was obviously very close to his mother who would, if the deceased was intestate, have been entitled to all his estate under s 77 of the Administration Act 1969 in any event.

Result

(a)Leave is granted for the application to be made without notice to any other person;

(b)The document dated 10 May 2018 (a copy of which is attached to the affidavits of his mother, Helena Hendrika Supra, and his work colleague, Duncan Douglas Leuchars, is declared to be a valid will of Gregory Wayne Supra.

Woolford J