Validity of Wills

Validity of Wills

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19): For Wills made on or after 31 January 2020, the formal requirement for a valid Will to be witnessed in the presence of two witnesses includes both physical and virtual presence, to allow Wills to be validly witnessed remotely by way of video conference. For the latest guidance on this temporary change (which takes effect for Wills made up to and including 31 January 2024), see Practice Note: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—Wills [ARCHIVED]. This change is introduced by the Wills Act 1837 (Electronic Communications) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Order 2020, SI 2020/952 which amends Wills Act 1837 (WA 1837), s 9 and the Wills Act 1837 (Electronic Communications) (Amendment) Order 2022, SI 2022/18. Note that the guidance below relates to WA 1837 in its unchanged form. For details of the new rules and the changes to WA 1837, s 9, see Practice Note: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—remote witnessing of Wills [ARCHIVED] [ARCHIVED].The WA 1837Amendment Order, SI 2020/952 was expressed to apply to Wills and codicils made between 31 January 2020

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Private Client News

Ex-solicitor hit with first individual tax avoidance stop notice

Law360, London: HMRC has ordered a struck-off solicitor to stop promoting two tax avoidance schemes, the first notice of its kind issued against an individual, the tax authority said on 15 May 2025.

UK crime agency's tax penalties upheld in laundering case

Law360: The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) can collect £900,000 in tax and penalty assessments from a married couple on income the agency claims they gained through money laundering without proving there was an actual tax loss, the Upper Tribunal ruled.

Law Commission publishes recommendations to reform Wills Act 1837

The Law Commission of England and Wales has published its final report ‘Modernising Wills Law’ including its recommendations (Volume I) and a draft Bill (Volume II) that seeks to repeal and replace the Wills Act 1837 (WA 1837). The 31 recommendations aim to enhance testamentary freedom, increase protections for those vulnerable to undue influence and fraud and provide clarity and certainty in the law. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has further welcomed the report, stating it will make further announcements in due course. Expert commentary provided by Clare Archer, Partner, Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP & Alex Adams, Associate, Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP.

FTT holds that OIGs and AIPs arising in offshore protected trusts are not protected foreign source income (Louwman v Revenue and Customs Commissioners)

Private Client analysis: The case of Louwman v Revenue and Customs concerned Ms Louwman, a UK resident non-domiciled taxpayer who had set up offshore protected property trusts on 7 March 2017, just prior to the implementation of the deemed domicile regime on 6 April 2017. Ms Louwman sought to shield income and gains in those trusts from taxation after she became deemed domiciled for the tax year commencing 6 April 2018, on the basis that the trusts were offshore protected property trusts and the income and gains in those trusts would not be attributed to her on an arising basis. HMRC assessed Ms Louwman to income tax on the basis that offshore income gains (OIGs) and accrued income profits (AIPs) that had arisen in the offshore protected trusts were subject to income tax on an arising basis. Ms Louwman resisted the assessments on the basis that these items of income were ‘protected foreign source income’. The matter went to the irst-tier tribunal for determination and the tribunal considered that the items of income were not ‘protected foreign source income’ on the basis that they could not be said to have a source, and particularly a foreign source. The tribunal therefore considered that they should be subject to income tax. The tribunal also considered that it was not appropriate to take a rectifying interpretation of the definition of ‘protected foreign source income’ in section 721A of the Income Tax Act 2007 (ITA 2007) even though OIGs and AIPs may have been omitted from the definition of protected foreign source income by the inadvertence of Parliament. Written by Ben Symons, barrister at Old Square Tax Chambers.