An unsent text message with the words "my will" and a smiley face was a valid will cutting out a dead man's wife and son, a court has ruled.

The family feud over the status of the text played out in the Queensland Supreme Court as the man's brother and nephew asked for the message to be treated as his final will.

The man's unsent text message has been ruled a valid final will. Credit:Roger Cummins

The 55-year-old man took his own life in October last year and the unsent text message was found on his phone the following day.

He wrote that his brother and nephew should "keep all that I have house and superannuation, put my ashes in the back garden".