Where an informal testamentary document is written by a third party whose child benefits, and the document was never read to or by the deceased, the court will require strong evidence of the deceased's knowledge and approval of the specific contents before dispensing with execution requirements under s 18 of the Succession Act 1981 (Qld). The availability of opioid pain medication on a patient-controlled basis may undermine medical evidence of testamentary capacity where the treating doctor was unaware of the medication when forming their opinion.
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