AN UNUSUAL WILL

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 101, 29 April 1910, Page 5

AN UNUSUAL WILL

PETITION TO VARY ITS TEEMS. WIDOW- POST-TON. In the Supreme Court at We_ingto_ on Tuesday a widow sought to obtain amendment of the will of her husband. The case was heard by Mr. Justice Cooper. The plaintiff was Mary Jans Joll, widow of the late Samson Treliving Joll, of Karori. The defendant was the Public Trustee.

In an originating summons, Mrs. Joll petitioned, under the Family Protection Act, for an order of .the Court in the following teems:—

That the estate of her late husband, with the exception of the cottage and land now occupied by her, be sold as soon as this could be reasonably done*} that the Public Trustee, as executor, be ordered 1 to permit her to live in the house now occupied by her free of -li charge, provided that she paid rates and taxes; and the moneys obtained from the sale or realisation of the estate, after payment of the amount due on mortgage, be retained by the Public Trustee for her support and mainteilance; that the Public Trustee be ordered to pay out of the estate the sum of £100 annually to her, in such manner as the Court might direct, this annual payment to commence from the date of her husband's death.

Mr. A.. Fair appeared for Mrs. Joll, and Mr. D. M. Findlay for Mrs. Stackhouse, one of the beneficiaries uuder the wiU.

Mr. Fair stated that Mrs. Joll was an aged woman, and was deaf and blind. All her late husband's property had been given to him by his wife. At present she had only 25/- per week, and in her old age she required somebody to attend hex. The property was worth about £900; about £400 had been distributed in legacies to relatives, and the rest had been given to an absolute stranger.

His Honor remarked that it was most unusual for a man to give his money to an absolute stranger, and leave his widow unprovided for.

Mr. Findlay said that, if the win were left as it now read, it was ex—re_tely doubtful whether Mrs. Joll would receive anything at aIL The total balance of the estate was not more than £900. This amount was fixed by the Government valuation of property at Karori, but it was very unlikely that realisation would produce that sum. The land comprised two acres at Creswick, and there was no income for the widow from the land at present. As the land was situated in an unattractive, cheerless, and damp locality, it was doubtful, in the present stagnation of the market, whether it could be-sold profitably.

His Honor pointed out that Mrs. Joll was receiving nothing at all out of her husband's estate. Her only income was £65 a year, which was surely ins_ficient;

Mr. Findlay, after again referiring to the prospects of realisation, suggested that Mrs. Joll should be allowed to live in the house, and take the income of the whole estate during her iife. That would protect her without destroying the whole effect of the -will.

His Honor said that as there was no income from, the estate, there was little use'in giving Mrs. Joll a Bfe-i_ter-est at present. He would order' that she should be allowed to live rent free in the unlet house at Karori, or that, if the house was let, the Public Trustee should -pay the rent to her.

- His Honor pointed out that this was merely an interlocutory order, and that all questions of costs would be reserved until another appliestion was made for a further order under tha