(Court of Appeal of New Zealand) The Court considered the equitable doctrine of mutual wills. The doctrine recognised that the executors and trustees of a will may be required to hold affected assets upon a constructive trust in terms of a revoked will.
Held: The imposition of a constructive trust based on mutual wills has two fundamental requirements:
(a) There was an underlying consultation and coordination between two testators which resulted in an agreement or an arrangement as to how they would make their respective wills (which were then made).2 I will refer to this as the requirement for ‘corresponding wills’. Reference is sometimes made to ‘mirror wills’ and, more ambiguously and confusingly, to ‘mutual wills’.
(b) There must have been a contract or mutual understanding (intended to bind each testator to a future cause of action) that neither testator
Judges:
Richardson P, Blanchard J,Tipping J
Citations:
[2000] NZCA 39, [2001] 2 NZLR 21, (2000) 20 FRNZ 86
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Legg and Another v Burton and Others ChD 11-Aug-2017
Testing for Mutual Wills
The parties disputed whether wills were mutual. The claimants challenged the probate granted to a later will of their deceased mother, saying that her earlier will had been mutual and irrevocable after the death of their father.
Held: The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Wills and Probate, Equity
Updated: 09 May 2022; Ref: scu.593131