Help with will! Plssss

localhero

Loa2013 wrote:

solicitor admitted he was drunk when he made his will

I have not considered the problem but: -

1. what solicitor in their right mind would allow someone to give instruction/sign a will whilst drunk?

2. what solicitor in their right mind would then admit to their own negligence?

I have noticed a load of misinformation about who can be a valid witness to a will in this thread and can confirm the correct answer is as follows:-

There are no particular rules about who may act as a witness. The only test seems to be whether the witnesses are capable of attesting at the time they sign.

So a minor witness (ie someone under 18) may witness a will provided he is not too young to understand the significance of his act, and providing he understands the nature of witnessing a signature.

Someone who is blind cannot as a witness since he is incapable of seeing the signature. A person who is drunk or of unsound mind would also be incapable of being a witness.

Since evidence may be required of the circumstances of the will's signing, persons who are old or who may be difficult to trace should be avoided.

A beneficiary or a beneficiary's spouse should not be chosen, although their signatures would be perfectly valid, they would lose their legacies.

localhero

Just a quick point to add - Scottish law is different so the position on witnesses may slightly differ...

YesWillMan

Welcome back Localhero.

As we are talking about witnessing wills I would also mention that both witnesses have to be in the presence of the person signing the will and the presence of eachother.

There was a case I was aware of where a guy made an invalid will because his signature was done in front of each witness but the witnesses did this at their individual houses and not together. Because of this his son did not inherit and his whole estate went to his estranged 2nd wife (not the sons mother) under the rules of Intestacy. As the son lived with dad he not only lost the estate but he lkst his home!!

getmore4less

The law on witnesses

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1982/53/section/17

also I understand that section 14 of the 1937 act still applies

14 Will not to be void on account of incompetency of attesting witness.E+W+N.I.
If any person who shall attest the execution of a will shall at the time of the execution thereof or at any time afterwards be incompetent to be admitted a witness to prove the execution thereof, such will shall not on that account be invalid