CONTESTED MAORI WILL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18571, 1 December 1923, Page 12

CONTESTED MAORI WILL

SWAY OF SPIRITUALISM.

NOT UNDULY INFLUENCED.

APPEAL BY EXECUTORS.

A'. DECISION ANNULLED.

Judgment in an appeal from a decision of Judge Holland, of the Native Land Court, refusing to grant probate of the will! of Hon Kingi Te Pua, deceased, late of Araparera, near„Helensville, was given by Chief Judge Jones and Judge Rawson in the Native Appellate Court yesterday. The will concerned property valued at £3000, Mr. A. H. Johnstone and Mr. R J. Coates appeared for the appellants, the executors, Messrs. Barr and Monk; and Mr. E. C. Blomfiold represented the opposing natives. The lower Court found that when testator gave instructions for the preparation of the will he was mentally capable of doing ordinary business. It, however, qualied th& by finding that one, Te Kai, mother of the sole beneficiary, exercised considerable influence over him by her practice of spiritualism. It is, said the judgment, "quite clear that she, Te Kai, had. sufficient control over deceased to influence him in the disposition of his estate, and this Court is satisfied that To Kai did influence deceased by her use of spiritualism. The Court considers that the circumstances surrounding the making of this will are of ..such a suspicious nature that it is justified in refusing to admit it to probate. Lower Court's Finding. The Native Appellate Court, having regard to the finding of the lower Court which had heard the evidence, and was ma position to judge of the demeanour and reliability of the witnesses, expressed its reluctance to interfere except upon very strong grounds. The testator m Auckland "in" March was then prepared by a solicitor. There was no evidence that To Kai, mother of the beneficiary, influenced or procured that to be done; at that time she was miles away. The will, as drawn, was read out in Maori and testator expressed himself satisfied with it. It appeared from the evidence that the natives of the district were considerably interested in the belief that communication could be had with the spirit world and that as a result sickness could be cured. It was undoubted that Te Kai, who was blind, acted as a kind of high priestess or the craft, and, if the evidence war, to be believed, claimed that she could impart her powers of healing to others— especially women. it was undoubted that the testator was a strong adherent of the sect, and that he endeavoured to persuade others to join it., but he could not have had implicit, belief in the healing powers, as he went to Auckland and was treated by a European, who was not a medical man, for several months. ' . Not Only the Untutored. It did not follow that testator, because he believed in this form of spiritualism, had delusions such as would deprive him of the capacity to dispose of his property by will. That delusionif such it was to ho calledwas not confined to untutored fieople. Highly-endowed persons had proesscd belief in it, and it could hardly be contended that their belief deprived them of the power to make » will. How then could the Court say that his belief in spiritualism, or even his love for, or awe of its representative, Te Kai, induced him to make the will in favour of Te Kai's child? Any undue influence on Te Kai's part had not, the Court held, bee* proved. The Court saw nothing in the evidence of the fact that she was the head of the cult to show that she coerced him to execute the will in her child's favour. The Court's finding was that the will was the will of a person of sound memory and understanding to dispose of his estate; that he realised its contents, and that the will expressed his deliberate intentions. The judgment of the lower Court was annulled, and probate granted to the executors.