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When a missing signature nearly derailed a family’s final wishes…

Our Wills & Estates team Senior Lawyer, Shannan, assisted a client who had discovered an unsigned and informal Will belonging to a deceased family member. The document named the client as the executor and indicated an equal division of the estate between two siblings. However, the document lacked signatures from the deceased and any witnesses, making its validity questionable under the Succession Act.

With no formal Will on record, the estate was otherwise due to pass under intestacy laws, which would have seen the entirety of the estate awarded to the deceased’s surviving parent. Shannan’s client explained that this outcome did not reflect the deceased’s intentions, given their strained relationship.

Despite the team’s detailed preparation of supporting evidence to establish the deceased’s testamentary intent, the Court declined to accept the informal Will.

Shortly thereafter, the client discovered a second version of the Will, this time executed and witnessed, but raising further concerns due to inconsistencies in pen colours used by the signatories. Anticipating judicial scrutiny over whether the Will was properly executed (i.e., signed in the presence of two witnesses simultaneously), Shannan proactively located the witnesses and prepared comprehensive affidavits explaining the circumstances of the Will’s execution and discovery.

Because Shannan and the team anticipated the Court’s concerns and addressed them with well-prepared evidence, she successfully obtained a Grant of Probate without any requisitions. The estate was distributed in accordance with the deceased’s true intentions, bringing the client both resolution and peace of mind.

Contact us about Family Provisions Claims.

 

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