Cosgrove Clayton: Wills Bill — First Reading 
Cosgrove Clayton: Wills Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:634;Page:5557] 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Associate Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I move  
That the Wills Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the Wills Bill be referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee for consideration. 
Wills legislation is relevant to all New Zealanders. It is important to anyone who wants to make arrangements for family and property when he or she dies. The Law Commission reviewed the current legislation in 1997 as part of a wider review of succession law. The commission concluded that the current law generally works well and that there is no need for radical change but it recommended one restating the existing legislation in a single statute in plain contemporary language and two modernising certain aspects of it. I am grateful to the Law Commission for its assistance in preparing the Wills Bill for introduction. 
As the Prime Minister explained in her formal statement to Parliament on 14 February this year the Government is committed to giving priority to a number of Law Commission proposals that update key statutes. The Succession (Homicide) Bill and the Arbitration Amendment Bill were introduced into the House at the same time as the Wills Bill and we are also working on property law reform. These bills will improve the operation of the existing law and make it easier to understand. 
The intention of the Wills Bill is to make the law clearer ensure that better effect can be given to will-makers’ intentions and make it easier for people to make wills. The current wills legislation is set out in six statutes. The principal Act is an Imperial Act dating back to 1837. It is written in the language and style of its time and must be read in conjunction with the five Wills Amendment Acts. The language is now archaic and the legislation is not easily accessible. The Wills Bill therefore seeks to restate the law in a single statute in plain modern language. 
The Law Commission also highlighted various ways in which the current legislation could usefully be modernised. I will outline some of the key reforms proposed in the bill. Firstly a will-maker will still have to sign the will and have it witnessed. Those requirements protect against fraud but non-compliance can invalidate the will and thwart the will-maker’s intentions. That can be upsetting for the will-maker’s family and difficult to resolve so the bill includes a number of new provisions to mitigate this risk. For example the bill proposes that it will no longer be necessary to sign at the end of the will. It will be valid regardless of where it is signed provided that other formalities are also complied with. 
The court will also be able to validate an otherwise invalid will if it is satisfied it expresses the deceased’s testamentary intentions. Similarly a disposition to a witness or his or her partner is ordinarily void but it will now be saved if all other parties agree or if the court is satisfied the will-maker made the disposition freely. A further problem is that wills are not always as clearly drafted as one might hope and errors can slip in unnoticed. The court will be able to correct errors in certain cases and make greater use of external evidence to interpret wills. Overall these changes will operate to ensure that will-makers’ intentions are upheld and not frustrated by technicalities. 
The bill retains and improves existing provisions that allow young people to make wills. Minors aged under 18 who are or have been married in a civil union or in a de facto relationship will continue to be able to make wills. The bill will also allow minors to make a will in contemplation of entering into a marriage or a civil union although it will take effect only when the marriage or civil union actually takes place. Existing rules that allow other minors to seek approval to make wills will be retained and enhanced. There will no longer be a minimum age—currently 16—for seeking approval and the court will be able to grant general approvals to minors to make and revoke wills if it is satisfied the minor understands his or her actions. At present these minors must reapply to the court every time they want to make or revoke a will. 
Currently a pre-existing will is revoked by marriage unless the will was expressly made in contemplation of that marriage and divorce revokes dispositions to a former spouse unless a contrary intention is expressed in the will. Both of these provisions will be extended to civil unions and formal separation orders. 
The Wills Bill also makes it easier to dispose of property in some situations. For example at present a gift to an unincorporated society that is not a charity or does not have a charitable function will fail. The Law Commission noted that there are some unincorporated societies with no or only doubtful charitable status such as iwi or hapu. The bill gives will-makers broader powers to make dispositions to unincorporated societies. 
Wills are of practical day-to-day significance for all New Zealanders. A will is an instrument that expresses a person’s wishes after he or she dies and enables that person to take care of his or her loved ones and property and assets. The proposed reforms will improve the legal framework for will-making. They will make the law easier for people to understand and reduce the risk of a will-maker’s wishes being defeated by a badly drafted or incorrectly executed will and will also allow better effect to be given to a will-maker’s intentions. I commend this bill to the House.