5) A testator must be of sound mind, memory and understanding, appreciate the extent and nature of his property and the moral claims to which he ought to give effect: Banks v Goodfellows. An older person suffering from a mental illness may suggest that the required conditions for his testamentary competence are not present – check all illness (6) If the will is rational on the face of it then assumption will be made that it is not vitiated by lack of testamentary competence. It would have been better had a doctor witnessed the will, or left a note that he considered the testator to be of sufficient testamentary competence at the time of execution of the will following the case of re simpson Competence at the time of giving instructions for the drawing up of the will would be sufficient where competence at the time of execution of the will cannot be established following the case of Parker v Felgate
(7) If a testator is blind this will mean the profounder of the will have to establish that he had knowledge of its contents r13 Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987. This requirement would be satisfied if the will was read over and explained to a testator prior to execution, this could be established by a suitable attestation clause at the end of the will, reciting the facts – The list of bequests will need to be read back to the witness and the testator as a whole if not the will not satisfy the requirements of the formal validity, the burden of proof will lie with the profounder to establish had the contents been read back.
(8) The requirements of formal validity, as set down in s9 Wills Act 1837, as substituted by s17 Administration of Justice Act 1982, are that the will must be in writing, signed by the testator or by some other person in the presence of the testator and by his direction, and it must appear that by the signature the testator intended to give effect to the will. Further, the will must be signed (of the signature must be acknowledged) in the presence of two or more witnesses who are present at the same time , and each witness must either attest and sign the will, or acknowledge his signature in the presence of the testator. (9) A signature guided by a hand will be sufficient provided the signature is intended to give effect to the will. The fact that the signature is at the top of the page is now immaterial (it used to be the case until 1983 that the signature had to be at the foot or end thereof. (10) The will, in principle will have to signed by both witnesses who must be competent in appreciating the nature of their act, that of witnessing a signature (rather than witnessing a will) The witnesses must sign in the presence of testator although not necessarily in the presence of each other.
(11) Following the case of Re Gibson pearce J considered that witnessing is exclusively a visual act. Thus a person with impaired vision could hardly be a competent witness. Saying that’s my will might allow for an interpretation that the testator could acknowledge his own signature if this was pointed out to him, in accordance with s9 Wills Act 1837.
(12) It is established that the witnesses need not see the testator sign, nor need he see them sign following the case of Carter v Seaton. The test is whether the person in whose presence the signature is made cold have seen the other signing had he wished to do so Shires v Glascock
(13) So in regards to mental capacity Banks and goodfellows should be applied and consists of three essentials. The testator must be of sound mind, sound memory and sound understanding. As regards to sound mind, it is meant that the mind must be free from disease or defect which would affect the testators ability to maker a will. Person who are under the influence of drugs do not have a sound mind den and vencleve. Physical illness which affects the brain may also affect the soundness of mind batton singh and amirchand
(14) Sound memory means a capability of recollecting the property to be bequeathed, the manner of disturbing it and who it is intended to benefit, not necessarily in detail, but aleast in broad mind outline.
(15) Sound understanding refers to a comprehension of the transaction, an ability to understand the claims of various relatives and the effect of the dispositions to be made. if at any rate it is not for third parties to decide the terms of the will , this must represnt the offspring of the testators own volition and not the record of someone elses as lord penzance said in hall and hall which was a case of undue influence.
(17) ven if the will is read over to the testator it was held in re morris that reading over was only evidence that there may have been knowledge and approval, and much will depend on how the reading over took place . However with a tired sick testatrix this reading over by an interested party who had made a substantial alteration in their own handwriting in their own favor would, it be submitted, most certainly not be enough to prove knowledge and approval. (18) If the circumstances are suspicious and fall within park j description in barry and baitlin where it says if a party writes or prepares a will under which he takes benefit, that is a circumstance that ought generally to excite the suspicion of the court and it ought not to pronounce unless the suspicion is removed and it is judicially satisfied that the paper pronounced does express the true will of the deceased
(19) The doctrine of suspicious circumstances is obvioulsy intended to avoid fraud by the party who wrote up or drew up the will on the testator, and it is particularly applicable in cases where the will leaves the testators estate or part of it to the party who prepared the will fulton and andrew
(20)Similarly, in tyrell and painton a will prepared by a beneficiaries son which left the testatrix estate to the father shortly before the death, and revoking a previooius will in favour of the plaintiff , was refused to probate on appeal because there was suspicious circumstances surrounding the execution of the will

SECTION 9

(1)A will is a written document in which you state how you want your property distributed after you die. A person who makes a will is called a "testator". Making a will allows you to choose what happens to your assets after you die. It also allows you to nominate an executor, who is the person responsible for making sure your wishes are met.
(2)If you die without having made a will, you are said to have died intestate. If this happens, your next of kin will have to apply to the Supreme Court for Letters of Administration, which will allow them to distribute your estate in a certain way. If you are the next of kin of someone who has died intestate
(3)You can make a will if you are over 18 years of age and are of sound mind. You must know that you are making a will, understand the nature and effect of the proposed will and that you are distributing your property according to your own intentions.
(4)If you wish to make a will and you are under 18 years and have never been married, you can apply to the Supreme Court. If you are under 18 years and married, you can make a will. Also, if you are under 18 years and are about to be married, you can make a will in contemplation of that marriage. Your will becomes valid when that marriage takes place.
The key requirements for a valid will are:
• the will must be in writing;
• the will must be signed by the testator at the end of the will;
• the testator's signature must be witnessed by two witnesses. (A beneficiary or their spouse cannot witness a will. If they do they will lose their entitlements under that will);
• the witnesses must sign the will in the presence of the testator and each other.
(5)As the formal requirements for making a valid will must be strictly adhered to, it is recommend that you have your will drawn up professionally by a solicitor or Trustee company.
S1.s2
(6)The will should specify that it is your last will and that you revoke any previous wills. It should appoint one or more persons to be your executor/s. Wills often include other requests such as funeral arrangements, preferences for disposal of the testator's body and the appointment of a guardian to look after the testator's children. As wills are only meant to deal with property, wishes such as these are not strictly binding on the executor, but can demonstrate the testator's intention. If a court is asked to determine the residency and guardianship of any children, the testator's wishes will be taken into account.
(7)Your will should provide for payment of funeral expenses and any debts. It should then state how you want your property distributed, either by naming the item and to whom it is given, or by giving a person a certain amount or percentage of the total value of your property. If your will contains specific gifts, it should also state what is to happen with the residue (remaining assets) of the estate.
Ss2.s3
(8)An executor is a person named in your will to look after your estate. An executor must be over 18 years of age. It is easier, although not compulsory, if the executor lives in the same state as the testator. It is also preferable to name two executors in a will. This will be of assistance if one executor dies or no longer wishes to act as executor. When considering people to be your executors, it is preferable to choose someone close to you, trustworthy and of a similar age. These are simple safeguards against possible complications later. If no executor is named in your will, the Supreme Court will appoint an administrator.
(9)The purpose of s9 of the wills act is to establish uniform requirements for all wills and to provide formalities for wills to prevent false wills and forgeries and fraud thus rendering titles certain and secure. only the documents intended to have dispositive effect would be admitted to probate, and thus loose statements or draft documents would not be considered as a will. The strict requirements of s.9 would ensure that there was strong and reliable evidence as to the testator wishes. it was also thought that the section would cut down the scope for undue influence on the testator, amd ensure he had knowledge and approval of the contents of the of the will
(10)Originally the section provided that the written documentation should be signed at the foot or end in the presence of at least two witnesses present at the same time and who would attest the will in the presence of the testator. Because of extremely of the extemly strict interpretation by the vourts of what was foot or end of the will the law was ammended by the wills act 1852 so as to allow a certain leeway to the courts in deciding what the testator intended to be foot or end.

S4 s4
(11)In the goods of hornby where the testator ruled an oblong box half way down the page before he cvommenced writing the will and this was held, when he executed the will by signing in the box, to be the end of the will according to his intention. contrasting this case to re stalman where the testator wrote his will on a single page which he filled with (12)writing to the bottom, so that there was no room for the signature, so he signed it at the top hand corner . The court of appeal refused to admit the will to probate relying on sec 1 of the wills act amendment act 1852 and lord hanworth said in this judgement ‘although the section gives a wide geographical liberty as to where the signiture could be placed at the begining he further pointed out that there was in the section a prohibition that the words following the signiturew cannot be operative.
(13) S1 requires that the testator sign his will. There is no longer a requirement that the will be signed at the foot or end of the will. Instead, the signature may appear on any part of the will so long as the testator intended to give effect to the will by it. Following the case of Wood v Smith the court of appeal was prepared to accept a signature at the top of the will as valid where the will was written in one single operation. The court was also prepared to allow extrinsic evidence to prove the intention of the testator. So it will be observed as to where the testator leaves there signature and also any conversations he will have to show his intentions to the will.
(14) As far as the use of initials is concerned, there is considerable case law to suggest that this is perfectly acceptable. Sec9 does not require the testator to sign his will in his name or indeed by his usual signature. The courts have interpreted the requirement for signature in a broad fashion and any mark place on the will by the testator which is intended to be his signature will suffice. Following the cases of In b Savory and In b Glover. If a court is prepared to accept that the act of the testator in initializing his will in the circumstances was indeed intended by him to be a signature, the next issue is if the order of events as prescribed by s9 has been complied with.
(15) It is important that the testator signs the will before the witnesses if not s9 will not have been complied with and the will is invalid. The only way a in which the will could have been valid, would be if the testator acknowledges initials as the signature to both witnesses and if they had acknowledged there signatures there after following the case of couser v couser
(16) If the capacity of a person to be a witness such as a 15 year old, whilst there is no conditions imposed on the capacity of a person to be a witness to a will, it is advisable to choose an adult of some intelligence. When dealing with minors the court s have indicated taht minors may be acceptable witnesses where they are not too young and are capable to understand the nature and importance of the transaction following the case of Smith v Thompson a will witnessed by a 16 yr old was considered valid.
Section 9. Allows the testator to direct someone else to sign his will n behalf , for this type of signature to be valid , the person signing must do so in the presence of the testator. the person who signs on behalf of the testator can either sin in the name of the testator or his own name following the case of In b Clarke The requirement that the person signing does so in the presence of the testator may cause some difficulty in certain cases. Following the case of Brown v Skirrow in relation to witnesses and being aware of what is happening around you.
(17)Do not acknowledge the will as a witness alone as the s9 of the wills act requires the presence of two witnesses. So if the orders of events do not comply with that of s9
(18)Having established the proper execution of the will, the next stage is to ensure that the testator has sufficient testamentary capacity. The onus of proving capacity rests on the profounder of the will. I will look if there is any incidents that have occurred that could have affected his mental capacity. It is worth bearing in mind the presumption that the testator who had the requisite testamentary capacity before he executed the will will be presumed to have continued to have the ability to make a will until the contary is proven. Chambers and Yateman v The queens Protor

ALTERATIONS sec 20
(s19.0)You can make minor alterations to your Will without the necessity of drafting a new Will by using a document called a Codicil. A Codicil confirms a previous Will document but makes a few changes. If a small number of changes are required it is a simpler alternative to re-writing the entire Will. By using a Codicil any of the details in a Will can be changed. Gifts can be revoked and new gifts can be added, or you can change the Executor.

Sec 23
(19)SS.1 A will is, by its very nature ambulatory, it xcan be revoked by the testator at any time up to the date of his death. However S.20 of the wills Act 1837 sets out the methods by which a will can be revoked. Apart from these the only other ways of revoking a will are those contained in SS18 of the wills Act 1837 and obliterations under s21of that Act.
(20) I will consider the policy motivating factors behind the doctrine of dependant relative revocation. The fundamental difficulty that is faced in such circumstances relates to the point that a testator must, if his revocation is to be affective, possess the requisite animus revocandi. The law requires that degree of mental capacity necessary to revoke be equivalent to that necessary to make a will in the first place. However what of testators who do not fully intend to revoke their wills or part of them. Or those who only intend to revoke on the occurrence or non-occurrence of a specified event. In the context of a ‘conditional revocation’ if the condition is not fulfilled then the will remains unrevoked.
Sec24
(21)There are a number of situations in which the courts have found the doctrine may be applicable. If the testator has made an earlier will but now decides that he should make a new one however, before the new one has been drawn up or executed the old will is revoked by destruction, then in such a case the court may find that any intention to revoke was qualified only.
(22)Following the case of Dixon v Treasury solicitor [1905] where evidence showed that but for his mistaken belief that he could not make a new will until the old one had been revoked) the testator would have allowed the old one to remain effective up until his new will was executed.
(23)There was a contrast following the case of Dixon, see Re Jones [1976] in which case the revocation was held to be absolute and unconditional since there was nothing on the facts to show that the testator believed she had to destroy her old will in order to make a new one. This case is quiet a strict application of the priciples for the court refused to infer a conditional revocation from the manner of the wills mutilationor from various statements made by the testatrix before her death as to bequests.Thus it can not be used to support a general thesis that the courts are motivated by a policy desire to avoid intestacy in this area.
(24) An alternative fact situation in which conditional revocation might exist is where, if a will is destroyed because of a mistaken belief by the testator as to the operation of the law or as too certain facts, this will not amount to revocation- the justification for such result being that the mistake negatives any animus revocandi following the cases of In the Estate of southernden [1925]

S.11 Wills Act 1837
Privileged and Mutual Wills and the wills (soldiers and sailors) Act 1918
Formal requirements do not comply to privileged testators
Privileged:Any soldier in actual miliatry serviceor mariner or seaman at sea.
Soldier in actual military service
(1) Look at when the will was written
(2) s11 of the wills act permits inter alia a seaman to be at sea to make a will without following the formalities of s9 all that is necessary is animus testandi following in the estate of knibbs
(3) Seaman even if he has not left the port at the time he wrote the letter it does not matter because the term seaman because the term seaman being at sea including sailors who are under orders to sail in sarah hale havers j held it was sufficient if the document was executed in contemplation of a fresh voyage at a time when a testator was under orders to rejoin his ship, if a person is on duty at the time of writting the letter he will be within the privillege according to s.11
S.45
(1)In the estate of gossage the majority if the court of appeal treated a letter from a soldier to his sister instructing her to burn his will as writing a declaring an intention to revoke within s.20 of the wills act
(2)Normally a will should fulfill the formal criteria specified by s.9 of the wills act 1837, but these are relaxed in relation to so called privileged testators. provided the testator was a soldier in actual military service at the time, he may dispose of his property without complying with any formalities. The word soldier has been broadly construed also the term actual military service originally the phrase was construed as requiring the person concerned to be so circumstanced that he could be regarded as being on a military campaign or expedition drummond and parish but this test was rejected by lord denning in re wingham as being unduly narrow. his lordship favored a more relaxed approach, and formulated a test that requires the (6)
(4) testator to be actually serving with the armed forces in connection with military operations which have either taken place or are doing so currently, or are being believed to be imminent. Imminent emabarkation on a troopship to Belfast must be covered Gattward v Kneethe fact that the operation is mainly one internal security and the adversaries not affordedmilitary status does not detract from the military nature of activity re jones
(3) For the will to be admissible to probate it must not merely satisfy the formal requirements, the testator must also satisfy the mental element. the general rule is that the documentation in question must be the definitive representation of the last wishes of a capable testator, and the onus of proof is on the profounder of the will following the case of barry and butlin. It mus t be proven that the testator (A)The testator had the mental capacity to make a will (b)The testator intended to make a will (c)The testator exercised genuine freedom of choice in doing so. On the issue of capacity the testator must be of sound and disposing mind and memory banks and good fellows.
(4) The testator must have intended to make a will, and he must have exercised genuine and unfettered discretion when he did so. So intention could not could not have been present if the testator had been pressured in some way into signing the will in question for he will have been a victim of undue influence. The must have been some coercion though. A testator must be led although can not be driven wingrove and wingrove. (6) Any person who dies without executing (making) a valid last will is known as dying INTESTATE and in that event the deceased's estate is distributed according to the Law on Intestacy. Hopefully you will already be aware of the importance of making a Last Will, so that your true wishes will be made known at the time of your death.
(7) Without a valid Last Will and Testament, obtaining Letters of Administration and appointing an administrator, can take months or sometimes even years. In the meantime your surviving spouse or partner has all the usual: household, weekly, monthly, and daily expenses to find and they will probably be on a reduced income, plus it will be at a time when they most need reassurance. Your surviving spouse or partner may not have access to money, she or he would normally have a right to, because the assets could be frozen until all the formalities have been sorted out, (someone else deciding who gets your life's assets). If you have got a valid Last Will it should take no longer than three months to obtain Probate and release your assets to the people who you chose
(8) Any person who dies without executing (making) a valid last Will is known as dying INTESTATE. In that event the deceased's estate is distributed according to the Law on Intestacy. By simply making a last Will you would avoid any problems that arise from intestacy. You the reader should have realized already the importance of making a Last Will, so that your true wishes shall be made known at the time of your death.
(9) It is important to be aware that the spouse of a deceased person who died Intestate, DOES NOT automatically inherit the whole of the estate, if the total value of the free estate passing on the death, is of substantial value. The Law prescribes what a surviving spouse can automatically receive, this is known as the Statutory legacy, and the amount is dependent on whether or not the deceased was also survived by issue and certain other relatives, again in order of strict priority.