The Supreme Court in Queensland has recently found that an unsent text message that was on the phone of the deceased stated the deceased’s testamentary intention and that it could be treated as a will.  The text was prepared shortly before the deceased committed suicide.  The deceased did not otherwise leave a will and, fortunately for the deceased, in his text he did end it with the words “my will”.  He had dated it and put his initials and date of birth.  There was evidence that the text message had been created prior to the deceased’s death so there was no argument about it being created subsequently.  The Court found that the fact that it was saved as a draft message and not sent was not evidence that he did not wish it to be operative as his will.  The Court found that it was quite consistent with someone who was about to commit suicide not to send the text because it might alert the person to the impending suicide attempt.

We do not recommend you leave making your will to a last minute text.  If you need to make a will see one of our experienced solicitors and we will assist you.