Lim v Thompson: ChD 14 Oct 2009

The claimant sought revocation of letters of administration granted to the defendant, asserting the existence of a valid will. The defendant said that the will was not validly executed. Only a copy had been found, and one with only one witness. One witness had now deposed that she had only added her signature after the date of the death, and the other witness had failed to attend. One version was a photocopoy of another.
Held: The circumstances were suspicious. The court considered whether a photocopied signature might satisfy the Act. Section 9 ‘section requires . . that the will should both be in writing and ‘signed by the testator’. That signature has to be made in the presence of two or more witnesses or acknowledged in the presence of those witnesses. In my judgment, a photocopy a previous version of the will with a photocopied signature of the testator is not a document which is signed by the testator at all.’ The circumstances were such as to disapply the presumption of due execution. The request to revoke the letters was refused.

Judges:

Purle QC J

Citations:

[2009] EWHC 3341 (Ch), [2010] WTLR 661

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Wills Act 1837 9

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

CitedIn the Estate of Bercovitz, deceased; Canning v Enever ChD 1961
The court considered the requirements for a valid execution of a will.
Held: The court must be satisfied that the witness had signed the will with the intention of attesting the testator’s signature or of attesting the will. Phillimore J . .
CitedSherrington v Sherrington CA 22-Mar-2005
The deceased, a solicitor of long standing, was said to have signed his will without having read it, and had two witnesses sign the document without them knowing what they were attesting. He had remarried, and the will was challenged by his . .
CitedIn Re Papillon (deceased) ChD 2006
Mr Guy Newey QC considered the presumption of due execution when propounding a will: ‘The burden of proving due execution, whether by presumption or by positive evidence, rests on the person setting up the will . . In certain circumstances, however, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Wills and Probate

Updated: 02 September 2022; Ref: scu.384445