De Marchi and Public Trust Office

Application number:
2002 S0190
Decision date:
Thursday, Jun 05, 2003

De Marchi and Public Trustee of Queensland
(2002 S0190, 5 June 2003) 

The applicant contended that the respondent had failed to disclose an unsigned copy of his deceased father's will, which the applicant alleged he had viewed during an attendance at the respondent's offices some years earlier.  The respondent conducted searches of its files relating to the applicant's father and mother, and of its will appointment book, and searched electronically for variations of the applicant's father's surname, and address, but did not locate an unsigned copy of the will. 

Applying the principles established in Shepherd and Department of Housing, Local Government & Planning (1994) 1 QAR 464, Assistant Commissioner Moss was satisfied that searches and inquiries conducted by the respondent had been reasonable in all the circumstances of the case, and that there were no reasonable grounds for believing that an unsigned copy of the applicant's father's will existed in the possession, or under the control, of the respondent.