Instructions to be acted on after death entered on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet were validated as a will by the High Court.
The Wills Act prescribes detailed technical requirements as to signature and witnessing for a will to be valid. A court may ignore these technical requirements provided intentions are clearly expressed.
The High Court was told Hendrik Jeffrey Meyer was unable to leave his Auckland home during the covid-19 pandemic. Suffering from aplastic anaemia, he was at high risk of bleeding and infection because of his bone marrow’s inability to produce new cells. He prepared a spreadsheet on his home computer, detailing how his assets were to be divided on death. Daughter Samantha was entrusted with computer access. This Excel document was never formally reconstructed as a will satisfying technical requirements of the Wills Act. He died in February 2022.
On Samantha’s application, Justice Lang approved the Excel spreadsheet as being her late father’s valid will. The High Court was told their family home was owned jointly with his wife; she gained full ownership by survivorship on her husband’s death. The balance of his estate, valued at less than $70,000, was distributed according to instructions in Mr Myer’s spreadsheet.
re Meyer – High Court (19.08.22)
22.147