Smith v Parsons

In Smith v Parsons, an important case in South African succession law, Smith was the partner of the deceased who sought an order to accept the deceased’s suicide note as an amendment to the deceased's will.

The deceased had validly executed a will in 2003 making his son, Jeremy, his sole heir. The suicide note said that Smith could have the house they had lived in; that she had access to a bank account holding about R600,000; and that the residue of his estate was to go to his son. The question before the court was whether the suicide note could constitute a codicil (amendment). The court held that the crucial question was whether the deceased intended the suicide note to be a codicil. It was held that the deceased’s intention was for the document to be a suicide note and not an amendment to his will, as the onus of proving an express intention to amend was not met.

See also

• South African succession law

References

• Smith v Parsons [2010] 4 All SA 74 (SCA).