does writing on a will invalidate it?

Palmerston83

My mother-in-law is quite isolated and house-bound. She has memory problems but is not mentally incapacitated. Her will was witnessed by her neighbour, and the neighbour's gardener. I have found that she has written and signed the will next to the signature of the latter 'I do not know this person'. Does this invalidate the will?

Yorkshireman99

Palmerston83 wrote: »

My mother-in-law is quite isolated and house-bound. She has memory problems but is not mentally incapacitated. Her will was witnessed by her neighbour, and the neighbour's gardener. I have found that she has written and signed the will next to the signature of the latter 'I do not know this person'. Does this invalidate the will?

It i likely to cause problems. Ideally she should get a. New will prepared professional

Palmerston83

Thanks - am hoping that it would not be a legal problem. Finding people to witness is problematical and she is on limited income and was hoping to avoid solicitor's fees but she may need to bite the bullet and me to find a way to get her to their office!

DigForVictory

It doesn't invalidate it per se, but it props the door Wide Open to potential problems. Unless it is a painfully simple "I leave my all to Palmerston83"? We're rarely that lucky.

Ordinarily I do not advocate copying a Will & hesitate to suggest it this time, as that everything will still be the same as when it was made is too unlikely, but a copy witnessed and then whisked off to the probate folk for storage will prevent the dear lady from adding unauthorised manuscript additions or observations.

She may have doodled on it in a fit of absent mindedness but she may want to revisit the issues, at which point Ho to a real solicitor, witnessed by their staff if at all possible, & a hearty afternoon tea for all involved to recover afterwards. The get the revised version off to Probate until it is needed.

She can have half a dozen copies to doodle on, write shopping lists, practice her calligraphy & ponder the anagram of 8 across (although I cannot in all honesty recommend this) - the one that matters is safe.

chesky

There are solicitors who will happily make home visits.

Silvertabby

You don't have to personally know your witnesses. Our Wills were witnessed by two of our solicitor's secretarial staff.

However, if the Will could be in any way contentious, (where there's a Will there's another relative) then it would be best to have it drawn up again.

TonyMMM

Silvertabby wrote: »

You don't have to personally know your witnesses. Our Wills were witnessed by two of our solicitor's secretarial staff.

So were ours - I have idea who they are, other than two random people present when we signed.

Not an unusual situation.

The key thing is was that person present when the person signed their will, and able to give evidence of that (and only that) if required ?

Yorkshireman99

TonyMMM wrote: »

So were ours - I have idea who they are, other than two random people present when we signed.

Not an unusual situation.

The key thing is was that person present when the person signed their will, and able to give evidence of that (and only that) if required ?

The testator and both witnesses all need to be present at the same time. The reason the witnesses should also print addresses is this helps identify them if they need be. The Probate Office do check for irregularities and will reject if the they are suspicious. That is why it is so crucial to get it right. Identifying witnesses 20 years later may well be difficult or impossible.