Succession Laws - Victorian Law Reform Commission

2• The rule particularly disadvantages people who make a will themselves (a home-madewill) without the assistance of a solicitor. 34 Cases where an innocent witness lost a giftunder a will often concerned home-made wills. 35• A witness to a will may be unaware that they are a beneficiary, as a witness does notneed to be aware of the contents of the will. 362.23 Victoria modified the rule in 1977 to allow a witness-beneficiary to take a benefit underthe will in the following limited circumstances:• A witness who would have been entitled to a share of the will-maker’s estate if thewill-maker had died intestate could receive an amount up to the value of that share.• Where a judge was satisfied that the will-maker knew and approved of the gift, andthe gift was not included as the result of any undue influence by any person, thewitness could receive the gift as specified in the will. 372.24 However, 20 years later the rule was abolished altogether on the recommendation of theParliamentary Law Reform Committee, following its review of draft legislation to replacethe Wills Act. The Committee criticised the rule for reasons that included those outlinedabove, and concluded that anyone objecting to a benefit given to a witness to the willcould challenge the will on the basis that the will-maker acted under undue influence orlacked knowledge of, and did not approve, the contents. 382.25 Despite the abolition of the rule 15 years ago, Victorian solicitors still consider it goodpractice not to use a beneficiary as a witness to a will, to avoid any suggestion ofimpropriety.National Committee for Uniform Succession Laws2.26 At the time that the National Committee for Uniform Succession Laws considered thewitness-beneficiary rule, two Australian jurisdictions had abolished the rule and mostothers had a modified version of the rule that allowed for some exceptions.2.27 While the National Committee acknowledged many of the disadvantages of the ruleoutlined above, it recommended retaining it in a modified form that allowed for someexceptions.2.28 The National Committee recommended that a gift to a witness should not fail whereeither:• at least two of the witnesses are not beneficiaries• everyone who would benefit from the failed gift consents in writing to the gift notfailing, or• the court is satisfied that the will-maker knew and approved of the gift and it wasmade freely and voluntarily by the will-maker. 3934 Law Reform Committee, Parliament of Victoria, above n 1, 91; Law Reform Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland, Attestation of Wills,Discussion Paper No 12 (2005) 9.35 See, eg, Verrall v Jackson [2006] QSC 309 (23 October 2006). However, a will made by a solicitor may also use a witness-beneficiary, see:Tonkiss v Graham [2002] NSWSC 891 (4 October 2002); Re Emanuel [1981] VR 113.36 Law Reform Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland, Attestation of Wills, Discussion Paper No 12 (2005) 8.37 Wills Act 1958 (Vic) s 13(3); Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic) pt V. These provisions were inserted by the Wills (InterestedWitnesses) Act 1997 (Vic). For an example of the application of these provisions, see Re Emanuel [1981] VR 113.38 Law Reform Committee, Parliament of Victoria, above n 1, 88–9, 92.39 National Committee for Uniform Succession Laws, above n 9, 22.21