Lister v Mathews

Case [2016] NZHC 2171


IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND AUCKLAND REGISTRY

CIV-2014-488-000057 [2016] NZHC 2171

IN THE MATTER OF

the Estate of EARL ARTHUR

RAYMOND LISTER

UNDER

The Family Protection Act 1955 section 4 and the Trustee Act 1956 Section 83B

BETWEEN

DEBRA ANNE GRETA LISTER Applicant

AND

ROBYN ETHEL FRONTIN MATHEWS, LANCE IAN LISTER, LINDA LOUISE LISTER / EDDIE

First Respondent

THE WILSON HOME TRUST / WAITEMATA DISTRICT HEALTH BOARD

Second Respondent

Hearing: On the papers

Counsel:

D A G Lister for herself
Appearances for the first and second respondent excused

Judgment:

14 September 2016

JUDGMENT NO 2 OF PALMER J (Application for leave to appeal)

This judgment is delivered by me on 14 September 2016 at 11.30 am pursuant to r 11.5 of the High Court Rules.

..................................................... Registrar / Deputy Registrar

Solicitors:

Saunders Robinson Brown, Christchurch (J M Stringer) Schnauer & Co, Auckland (C P Hallowes)

And to:

The Applicant

LISTER v MATHEWS & ORS [2016] NZHC 2171 [14 September 2016]

[1]      On 7 July 2016 I declined Ms Debra Lister’s application to review a Minute of Associate Judge Bell.1   Her application was the latest in a long line of attempts to pursue a claim to her late aunt’s property on a completely misconceived legal basis.2

In the judgment I found Associate Judge Bell’s Minute “simply reflected the legal position decided by the High Court and the Court of Appeal”.3    I stated “Ms Lister needs to accept the legal situation as several courts have found, and carefully explained, it to be”.4

[2]      Ms Lister now seeks leave under s 26P of the Judicature Act 1908 to appeal my judgment to the Court of Appeal.  Her grounds of appeal are based on the same misconceptions as before.  On 4 August 2016 she apparently attempted to file in the High Court a Notice of Appeal which was rejected since an application for leave to appeal is required.  On 29 August 2016 she filed an application for leave to appeal. That is well outside the 20 working days she was allowed by r 20.3 of the High Court Rules to file such an application.

[3]      In any case, I do not consider there are any grounds to appeal the judgment of

7 July 2016, for the reasons given in the judgment.  Even if it were filed in time I

would refuse Ms Lister’s application.

Palmer J

1      Lister v Mathews & Ors [2016] NZHC 1540.

2      For example Lister v Pegg Ayton Gordon Trustee Ltd & Ors [2014] NZHC 2553 (per Asher J);

Lister v R E Mathews & Ors [2015] NZCA 474.

3 At [6].

4 At [9].

Details
AGLC
Lister v Mathews [2016] NZHC 2171
Case
[2016] NZHC 2171
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the matter of the estate of Earl Arthur Raymond Lister, Debra Anne Greta Lister applied for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal against the decision of Palmer J in the High Court. This was the latest attempt by Ms Lister to pursue a claim to her late aunt's property, which had been previously dismissed on the basis that the legal position had been decided by the High Court and the Court of Appeal. Ms Lister filed an application for leave to appeal outside of the 20 working days allowed by rule 20.3 of the High Court Rules. Even if it had been filed in time, Palmer J did not consider there were any grounds to appeal the judgment of 7 July 2016.

The legal issue was whether there were any grounds to appeal the decision of Palmer J. Ms Lister's grounds of appeal were based on the same misconceptions as before. Ms Lister's previous attempts to pursue a claim to her late aunt's property had been dismissed on the basis that the legal position had been decided by the High Court and the Court of Appeal. The court found that even if the application had been filed in time, it would have been refused.

The court found that there were no grounds to appeal the judgment of 7 July 2016, for the reasons given in the judgment. The court found that Ms Lister needed to accept the legal situation as several courts had found and explained it to be. The application for leave to appeal was dismissed.

This case highlights the importance of understanding the legal position and accepting it as decided by the courts. It also highlights the importance of following the rules of court, including the time limits for filing an application for leave to appeal.

Orders

Orders of the court

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Background

Background to the litigation

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Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

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Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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