Knowledge and approval of a Will by an illiterate testator (Re Dhalei (deceased))

Table of contents

• What are the practical implications of this case?
• What was the background?
• What did the court decide?
• Case details

Article summary

Private Client analysis: The court held that a testator, whose first language was Arabic and whose knowledge of English was more limited, and who was illiterate in both languages, did have knowledge and approval of the contents of his Will. It did so, among others, on the basis of evidence from the solicitor who drafted the will that he would have read and explained it to the testator before the Will was executed. But the court indicated that a lesson to be learned from the case is that where a testator’s first language is not English, or there are other apparent difficulties in understanding that language, it is good practice to ask the testator to paraphrase the terms of the Will before executing it. Written by David Green, barrister at Atlantic Chambers, Liverpool, who appeared for the defendant.