WARNING: Disturbing content; discussion of suicide.

In 2017 a husband died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Just before his death, he had left a voice message on his friend's phone stating that he wanted his life insurance to be paid to his children ($3 million each) and the rest of his estate to his wife.

He then made a voice recording on a mini tape recorder stating the same thing.

Did either voice recording qualify to be an informal Will? Only one of them did. But why?

CASE: Re Estate of Wai Fun Chan [2015] NSWSC 1107

A video Will may seem like a great idea! So much more personal than a legal document full of undecipherable jargon and paragraphs that run on for pages.

But the legal hassle it creates!

Wai Fun Chan had made a written Will but only a few days later decided to update her Will via video recording.

First hassle was making the video into a more easily accessible format - a written document. A transcription had to be created and verified.

Second hassle was determining whether the video qualified as an informal Will. Could the video be legally upheld even though it didn't fulfil the requirements for a valid Will?

Third hassle was the involvement of a beneficiary in the creation of the video. Wai Fun left a larger share of her estate to her daughter Deborah in the video, and Deborah was also behind the camera making the video. Did the gift to her fail because she was a witness to the "Will"?