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Will
Practical Law ANZ Glossary w-010-9444 (Approx. 2 pages)
Glossary
Will
In Australia, succession law differs between the states and territories. In general, to be valid, a will must be:
- Made by a person who is 18 years old or over (unless the testator is a minor who is married or is making a will in contemplation of a marriage that takes place).
- Made voluntarily and without pressure from any other person.
- Made by a person who is of sound mind (they must know who their family is, the assets they own and be able to make decisions about how to distribute their property according to their own wishes).
- Made in writing.
- Signed by the testator or some other person in the presence of, and at the direction of, the testator, in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time.
- Signed by at least two of those witnesses, in the presence of the testator (but not necessarily in the presence of each other), after the testator has signed the will.
The relevant legislation in each state and territory sets out when the court may dispense with the formal requirements for making a will.
A document or other medium (for example, a DVD or an unsent text message on a mobile phone) may be recognised as being a will if the court is satisfied (on a range of evidence) that this is what the deceased person intended (Mellino v Wnuk [2013] QSC 336; Re Nichol [2017] QSC 220).