Would you please look over the will and tell me whether you think the gifts in Clauses 3, 4,

and 5 are valid and work legally?

Making a Legally Binding Will

In the UK, any reasonable adult, married or not, can dispose of his property through a will. The

law usually respects the testator's freedom of choice on this issue. If the testator chooses to give

everything to the preferred charity, the disappointed beneficiary will rarely receive legal

compensation. Cockburn CJ pointed out in “Banks v Goodfellow” that English law prefers men

to dispose of the property as they wish, rather than organise property. This chapter introduces

some of the procedures for making a will and some exceptions to the general principle of agency.

Therefore, any sane adult can make a valid will. Under “Section 7” of the “Wills Act of 1837,” a

person under the age of 18 is not allowed to make a valid will unless he is an active soldier,

sailor, or about to set sail (legislation.gov.uk, 2021).

This type of “privileged will” raises some interesting questions in inheritance law, nonetheless,

we do not have to worry about courses primarily related to family law. The signatories of the will

are also required to be rational and must have possession of all their wits (legislation.gov.uk,

2021). In theory, the responsibility for proving this lies with the person looking for a successor.

The person may need to look for evidence of the testator's feelings at the time. However, in

practice, unless the will seems unreasonable, the testator's skill is usually taken for granted unless

challenged by a disappointed recipient. If all of these stipulations are met the will in question

will be held as legally viable and will hold ground in a court of law in the UK

(legislation.gov.uk, 2021).

Individuals Who Could Appeal the Will

Interpersonal relationships change, people and families leave or leave. Perhaps only one of your

children is rich enough, on the contrary, your other child/grandchildren should inherit property

from you. For whatever reason, you have decided that some people do not want to prepare for

themselves. This article describes the things to consider when excluding someone from

inheritance. In England and Wales, we have always had the idea of freedom of will. It is your

right to leave your property to anyone. That is, some people can reasonably expect to inherit your

property after death. In fact, under the “Inheritance (Dependents) Act of 1975,” there may be

six categories of people who may want to prepare for them (legislation.gov.uk, 2021b):

 A spouse or civil partner and children.

 Ex-spouse if not remarried (legislation.gov.uk, 2021b).

 Partners that have lived with you for at least a 2-year period.

 People who were treated by you as if they were your children whether they were your

stepchildren or you were their guardians (legislation.gov.uk, 2021b).

 Family members or individuals that were being taken care of by you.

In case, if you do not make a specific provision for someone who does not fall into the

aforementioned categories, there are specific guidelines stated in the individual that can bring up

a claim against the will filed. In that manner, the person in question could call for an amendment

in the will, making them part of the estate being distributed (legislation.gov.uk, 2021b).

However, it is up to the court to decide whether your will did not adequately prepare the person

and, if so, whether he has to change your property to provide something. The request must be

submitted within 6 months from the date on which the executor signed the grant of succession. It

is also important to note that although it is foreseeable that an appeal could be made if the people

stated in the Will do not think the amendment is “reasonable” (legislation.gov.uk, 2021b). What
makes sense depends on your relationship with people and the size of your resources. This means

that you cannot avoid potential complaints simply by offering superficial gifts to the people you

wish to exclude. Furthermore, as noted in “Section 9” of the “Wills Act 1837” it is noted that for

a will to be seen as valid, there has to be a number of stipulations that have to be met

(legislation.gov.uk, 2021).

 For one, it is noted that the will has to be in writing and have the signature of the testator.

If the testator is not present a signature from a person who is in the presence of the

testator (legislation.gov.uk, 2021).

 Secondly, the intent has to be present and clear that the testator wants to sign the will and

effectively invoke the will (legislation.gov.uk, 2021).

 Thirdly, while the signature is a necessity it is required that there are witnesses present at

the time when the testator is signing the will. Furthermore, the section dictates that there

have to be at least two witnesses present and at the same time.

 Signatures from the witnesses are necessary as well showcasing that the individuals are

accepting their roles as witnesses to the testator (legislation.gov.uk, 2021).

For instance, in the case of “Re Finn (1935)” it was noted that an illiterate testator T addressed

his will to the priest, who reread it. He then “signed” his will with ink fingerprints (dirty because

his hand slipped) and it was properly authenticated. Will is brought to trial: the judge said this

was at least a “signature,” not a cross, nonetheless he generally thinks it is not a good idea. In

addition, the signature of the testator must clearly indicate that the testator intends to execute the

will in this way. Before 1983, it was supposed to appear at the end of the will, however,

everything that was displayed under the signature was ignored, but the court was very generous
in enforcing the rule. There are no formal rules, however even if the signature appears outside

the bottom, there may be uncertainty about the will of the testator.

In the same vein, in the case of “Wood v Smith” T signed a piece of paper before writing the

details of the terms and acknowledged his signature in front of two witnesses. The Court of

Appeals overturned the judge, stating that T wrote “My will by Percy Winter bone” as he wrote,

apparently intended to influence later provisions. From titles, signatures, regulations, approvals

to certifications, the drafting of a document is part of a single operation and the will is carried out

effectively. Witnesses signing the testator must know what the testator is writing, but they must

be unaware of what the testator is signing. He must be mentally competent and able to physically

see the testator. Therefore, even if a blind man can make a legitimate will for himself, he cannot

be a witness. There is no law that witnesses must be adults, but children are unlikely to be

reliable witnesses.