Flocas v Carlson is a mutual wills case handed down 4 June 2015 by McMillan J in the Victorian Supreme Court. It is a very long decision (100 pages) but contains a very detailed history of mutual wills cases, and considers important issues such as:
- whether mutual wills agreements are a contract (thereby requiring consideration, intention to create legal relations etc) or some lesser form of agreement (held – contract);
- whether the Statute of Frauds applies to mutual will agreements which deal with interests in land (held – yes, although the equitable fraud and part performance exceptions were both found).
An alternative estoppel claim was also upheld.
