Wills and Administration of Estates
This subject splits into two halves: the law of wills (validity, interpretation, revocation) and the practice of administering an estate once someone has died.
Formal validity of a will is the most reliably tested single point, because the requirements are precise and small factual variations change the outcome.
- Formal validity and execution of a will
- Revocation, alteration and revival of wills
- Intestacy and the statutory order of entitlement
- Grants of representation and the administration of estates
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Written for this page only, in the same single best answer format as the 210+ questions in the Wills and Administration of Estates section of the course.
A testator signs his will in his study without anyone else present. Later the same day, two neighbours come to the house together, and in their joint presence he acknowledges that the signature on the document is his own. Both neighbours then sign as witnesses, each in the presence of the other and of the testator. Is the will validly executed?
A will is validly executed if the testator either signs it, or acknowledges an existing signature, in the presence of two witnesses present at the same time, who then each sign in the testator’s presence. Acknowledging an already-written signature satisfies the requirement just as signing in front of the witnesses would. Witnesses do not need to watch the act of writing itself, only to be present when the testator signs or acknowledges the signature, and a witness who benefits under the will affects only whether that witness can keep their gift, not whether execution itself was valid.
Authority: Wills Act 1837, s.9.
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