The Court held that a handwritten document prepared by the deceased on hospital menu forms, dated and signed but unwitnessed, satisfied the requirements of s 8 of the Succession Act 2006 (NSW) to be admitted to probate as an informal will, where the document used the words 'testament' and 'will', identified the testator and beneficiary, listed assets, and was signed with date, time and location. The Court found that the deceased's subsequent communications with his solicitor — including expressions of displeasure about legal fees and statements about an earlier will — did not negate the testamentary intention formed at the time of the document's creation, applying the Hatsatouris/Anderton principle that subsequent events are relevant only insofar as they bear on intention at the time of creation. The informal will impliedly revoked the earlier 2007 formally executed will, and a family provision order of $200,000 was made in favour of the deceased's de facto stepdaughter notwithstanding that she was not named in the informal will.
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