Sign-in Help

Wills

View Wills & Probate by content type:

News
Practice notes
Precedents
Q&As

Latest Wills & Probate News

Appointment of administrator pending suit following difficulties financing former family home (Ugolor v Ugolor)

Appointment of administrator pending suit following difficulties financing former family home (Ugolor v Ugolor)

The following Private Client news provides comprehensive and up to date legal information on Appointment of administrator pending suit following difficulties financing former family home (Ugolor v Ugolor)

Will drafting error causes dispute over knowledge and approval (Mundil-Williams v Williams)

Will drafting error causes dispute over knowledge and approval (Mundil-Williams v Williams)

The following Private Client news provides comprehensive and up to date legal information on Will drafting error causes dispute over knowledge and approval (Mundil-Williams v Williams)

Proprietary estoppel and the interface with property contracts (Howe v Gossop)

Proprietary estoppel and the interface with property contracts (Howe v Gossop)

The following Dispute Resolution news provides comprehensive and up to date legal information on Proprietary estoppel and the interface with property contracts (Howe v Gossop)

Temporal gymnastics—practical guidance for Presumption of Death Act 2013 applications (Austin v Mitchell)

Temporal gymnastics—practical guidance for Presumption of Death Act 2013 applications (Austin v Mitchell)

The following Family news provides comprehensive and up to date legal information on Temporal gymnastics—practical guidance for Presumption of Death Act 2013 applications (Austin v Mitchell)

Featured Wills & Probate content

Codicils

Codicils

Codicils may be used for making any alteration in a Will such as to alter the executors or make changes in legacies, whether by addition or deletion...

Missing persons and presumption of death

Missing persons and presumption of death

The disappearance of a person does not automatically enable others to take control of that person's affairs or their property ownership. That can...

Intermeddling in an estate

Intermeddling in an estate

What is intermeddling?An individual who performs certain duties which a personal representative (PR) would perform to administer a deceased’s estate...

Definition of a personal representative

Definition of a personal representative

STOP PRESS: With effect from 2 November 2020, the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, SI 1987/2024 (NCPR 1987) are amended by the Non-Contentious...

Practice notes

Power of appropriation

Appropriation is a process by which a personal representative or a trustee uses a specific asset in the estate or trust fund, to meet in full or in...
Read More >
9th Nov
Practice notes

Contents of Wills—residuary gifts

What a residuary gift comprisesThe residuary estate will not necessarily comprise only cash, but will usually include other assets that have not been...
Read More >
9th Nov
Practice notes

Revocation of Will

Revocation of a WillA Will is revocable at any time during the testator's lifetime. A testator may not revoke their Will in any manner they choose: a...
Read More >
9th Nov
Practice notes

Will drafting—hotchpot

Hotchpot clauses in Wills can be very useful in equalising benefits between beneficiaries. They also have a place in respect of a partial intestacy....
Read More >
9th Nov
Practice notes

The chain of representation

Where one of several executors diesSection 5 of the Administration of Estates Act 1925 (AEA 1925) states that the office of executor is personal to...
Read More >
9th Nov
Practice notes

Will errors—affidavit evidence

STOP PRESS: With effect from 2 November 2020, the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, SI 1987/2024 (NCPR 1987) are amended by the Non-Contentious...
Read More >
9th Nov
Practice notes

Validity of Wills—rectification of Wills

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19): As announced on 17 April 2020, the President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, authorised District Probate...
Read More >
9th Nov
Practice notes

Preparing the application form PA1P/PA1A for probate or letters of administration

STOP PRESS: With effect from 2 November 2020, the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, SI 1987/2024 (NCPR 1987) are amended by the Non-Contentious...
Read More >
9th Nov
Precedents

Warning to caveator

Warning to caveator, Rule 44(5)In the High Court of JusticeFamily Division[The nominated registry as defined by rule 44(15)]To [name] of [address] a...
Read More >
9th Nov
Practice notes

Payment of legacies

Identification of beneficial interestsThe personal representatives (PRs) of an estate must identify:•the beneficiary or beneficiaries entitled to each...
Read More >
9th Nov
tag iconIn-house

Most recent Wills content

Q&As

Where a specific gift relates to a named property, or such other property as the testator shall live at the time of their death, and the named property has been sold during their lifetime and they have not purchased a new property as they moved into a care home, does the gift fail? Is it possible to construe the gift as including the proceeds of sale of the named property? What provisions in the Will would support such a construction of the gift?

A legacy of a particular residence would be classified as a specific legacy and therefore, if the testator does not own the property in question at...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

STEP code for Will preparation in England and Wales

In comparison with the Wills and Inheritance Quality Scheme introduced by the Law Society the STEP code is underwhelming. However, they are probably...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Will drafting—planning the Will

Usually, the draftsperson will have met the client to take instructions and will have obtained all the relevant information regarding their...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Will drafting—civil partners and same sex marriage

Civil partnershipsThe Civil Partnership Act 2004 (CPA 2004) puts same sex couples who register their partnerships in the position of married couples...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Will drafting—professional negligence

Duties in contractThe relationship between a solicitor and client is governed by the terms of the contract between them. This is supplemented by...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Contents of Wills—beneficiaries who can take under a Will

IdentificationBeneficiaries must be clearly identified in the Will, otherwise the gift will fail for uncertainty. When drafting a Will, state the...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Validity of Wills—signature

STOP PRESS: With effect from 2 November 2020, the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, SI 1987/2024 (NCPR 1987) are amended by the Non-Contentious...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Making a Will

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19): The formal requirement for a valid Will to be witnessed in the presence of two witnesses is to be relaxed (with retrospective...
Read More >
Produced in partnership with Keith Bruce-Smith and Katie Walsh of Sinclair Gibson LLP 9th Apr
Practice notes

WIQS—completing the Will and subsequent matters

Having drafted the Will it is necessary to confirm that it is what the client wants and needs. This Practice Note takes the practitioner from the...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Wills and Inheritance Quality Scheme (WIQS)—principles

The Wills and Inheritance Quality Scheme is designed to produce, as stated by the Law Society, a quality standard for the production of Wills and the...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Will drafting—completing and executing the Will

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19): The formal requirement for a valid Will to be witnessed in the presence of two witnesses is to be relaxed (with retrospective...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Partial intestacy

DefinitionPartial intestacy may arise when a testator has made an effective testamentary disposition of part of their estate but has failed to dispose...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

WIQS—general practice policies

There will be occasions when the client has a disability and the practice has to be in a position to ensure that it is able to ensure there is no...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Will drafting—taking instructions

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19): For guidance on the difficulties and practicalities of taking instructions during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, see...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

WIQS—Will drafting instructions

The Will drafting part of the WIQS Protocol sets out, in effect, a blueprint for the conducting of a Will drafting transaction. It does not tell the...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Failure of gifts—ademption

Classification of legacies and devisesDue to the doctrines of ademption and abatement, a distinction is drawn between specific, general and...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Contents of Wills—powers

Types of powersUnder a Will or a trust, a person (the appointor) may be given the power to appoint by Will or otherwise to determine how the property...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Will drafting—CGT considerations

When preparing a Will, the practitioner will be primarily focusing, at least so far as tax is concerned, on exploiting the testator's nil rate band...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Validity of Wills—foreign element

STOP PRESS: With effect from 2 November 2020, the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, SI 1987/2024 (NCPR 1987) are amended by the Non-Contentious...
Read More >
9th Apr
Practice notes

Will drafting—hotchpot

Hotchpot clauses in Wills can be useful in equalising benefits between beneficiaries.The hotchpot rule is also applied in cases of partial intestacy...
Read More >
9th Apr

Popular documents

LEXISNEXIS

The Offshore Transmission Owner (OFTO) regime

What are OFTOs?Offshore Transmission Owners (OFTOs) are the owners of offshore transmission assets which connect offshore wind farms to the onshore electricity network. The transmission assets comprise everything between the offshore point of connection with the generating wind farm assets and the

LEXISNEXIS

Wounding or causing grievous bodily harm with intent

The offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intentWounding or causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent is triable only in the Crown Court on indictment. Elements of the offence Under the Offences against the Person Act 1861 (OATPA 1861), the prosecution must prove the defendant unlawfully

LEXISNEXIS

Third party rights—the common law doctrine of privity of contract

This Practice Note discusses the common law doctrine of privity of contract; the equitable and statutory exceptions to it; how the doctrine affects enforcing a contract against a third party and what happens when, notwithstanding the lack of privity, a contract has an indirect effect on a third

LEXISNEXIS

The tort of deceit

Deceit—what is it?A deceit occurs when a misrepresentation is made with the express intention of defrauding a party, subsequently causing loss to that party.The elements of a claim in deceit are:•a clear false representation of fact or law•fraud by the maker, in the sense that they knew that the