Charities lose out on £1million estate due to witnessing error

This case highlights the importance of ensuring that a Will is validly executed.  Due to a procedural error four Charities lost out on a £1m inheritance.

Under Section 9 of the Wills Act 1937 there are certain formalities which have to be complied with for a Will to be valid.  Section 9 requires that that the testator (the person making the Will), must sign it in the presence of 2 independent witnesses (who are present together at the same time) and then the witnesses must sign as witnesses in the presence of the testator.  The witnesses must be over 18 and ideally independent of the matter. 

A retired doctor of 88, unmarried with no children used a will writing company to change an existing Will just before her death.  The existing 2014 Will left the majority of the  £1 million estate to the deceased’s goddaughters, one of which was a director of the will writing company.  However, in 2018 the deceased wanted to replace the existing Will so £51,000 was left to friends and her godchildren but the remainder was left to four charities. The testator died in November 2018 a few days after her signing the Will.

The will writing company was also owned by a friend of the deceased.   Her friend prepared the new Will and took this to the deceased’s home to sign.  The deceased signed in the presence of her friend who also signed as a witness.  However, the Will was then taken back to the office where a member of staff then signed it as a witness.  The testator was not present at the time it was signed.  Section 9 of the Wills act requires that all are present when signed and therefore due to a procedural error the Court found the existing Will to be invalid.

This case demonstrates the price that can be paid if a Will is not executed correctly.  The charities argued that the will writer should have found a neighbour or friend to witness and sign in the deceased’s presence.

Wills that are vague or unclear, or have not been reviewed leading to them becoming outdated, can lead to problems further down the line.  Will writers unlike Solicitors are not regulated and not required to be legally qualified sometimes leading to errors which could be avoided.   Therefore to avoid any uncertainty it is best to review your Will on a regular basis and instruct a solicitor’s firm avoiding problems that may occur in the future.