WEALTHY SPINSTER

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 6 October 1936, Page 8

WEALTHY SPINSTER

VALIDITY OF WILL SUPREME COURT ACTION (United Press Association) CHRISTCHURCH* sth October. The hearing of an application to have probate of a will allegedly made by the late Elizabeth Smith, spinster, revoked and the will declared null and void was commenced before Mr Justice Northcroft in the Supreme Court to-day. The will was sworn for purposes of probate at £77,000, but at the time it was drawn up the estate was estimated at between £50,000 and £60,000.

The plaintiffs were Olive Judge and Ivy Cookson, both of Christchurch, and the defendant was the Guardian Trust and Executors Company of New Zealand, Limited. It was claimed by the plaintiffs that at the time the alleged will dated Bth June, 1934, was purported to have been executed Elizabeth Smith was not of sound mind, memory, and understanding. On Bth June, 1934, the statement continued, Elizabeth Smith was aged 80 years or thereabouts and remained until the day of her death suffering from senile dementia. With the exception of an admission that probate of the will was granted to the defendant company of 19th July, 1935, the statement of defence was a general denial of the allegations made in the statement of claim. It was agreed that the case for the defence should be taken first, Mr H. F. O’Leary, K.C., contending that the onus was on the defendant company to uphold the will. Dr Haslam, for the defendant company, said that at the beginning of 1933 the Guardian Trust Company’s manager became concerned because he found that Miss Smith had been approached by representatives of the Investment Executive Trust and had transferred to them shares in the South British Insurance Company and the New Zealand Insurance Company. Later she transferred further shares to representatives of the same company.

The manager of the Guardian Trust then found that Miss Smith had been investing in gold-mining companies, a flax company and a tobacco company, Dr Haslam continued, and he approached her relatives with a view to obtaining an order under the Aged and Infirm Persons Act, but they would not agreed to do so. Finally, the Guardian Trust and Executors Company sought and obtained an order under the Act. For a number of years Miss Smith had been very careful in financial matters and it was freely admitted that she had been going round the streets picking up small pieces of wood and fruit which fell from stalls. This was probably an eccentricity and was no evidence of incapacity, Dr Haslam added.