English Wills and Intestacy Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1837

The Wills Act 1837 governs wills, along with the Administration of Justice Act 1982. One of the things it does is set out the requirements needed to make a will valid. The requirements of a will are that it must be signed, be made by someone over the age of 18 (see question 3 for further information about this), be made by a person of sound mind, be in writing and be witnessed

Answer: two

The will has to be witnessed by 2 people who must both be present at the same time. They cannot be beneficiaries of the will, if they are, the will will be invalid. In the case of Re Bravda (1968), the will had been witnessed by 4 witnesses, 2 of which were beneficiaries, meaning that the will was made void.

Answer: False

This is actually false, the only time that the testator (person making the will- it is testatrix for a female) can be under 18 years of age is when the will is a privileged will, otherwise known as a soldiers will. In this case, they must be 14 years or older.

A soldiers will is when the testator was in active military service or was a seaman out at sea at the time. They do not need to be made in writing or have 2 witnesses. The phrase used for these informal wills is 'nuncupative'.

Answer: 28

A survivorship clause means that the beneficiary of a will must survive for (usually) 28 days after the testator has passed away. If they do not survive this period of time the gifts in the will go to somebody else.

Answer: Anything given to the spouse is revoked

A divorce will lead to any gift being left to the ex-spouse being revoked, any other beneficiaries will receive their inheritance. This is also the case if the spouse was the executor of the will. If they were the only beneficiary, the estate will be divided under the rules of intestacy.

The Law Reform (Succession) Act 1995 states that it should be treated as though the ex-spouse died on the day of the divorce.

Answer: It will be revoked

If a person marries, any will made before that marriage will be revoked unless the will is made 'in contemplation of marriage'. The will will not be revoked if the person they are marrying is stated in the will or if the testator has shown that they do not intend for the will to be revoked.

Answer: Residence Legacy

General legacies, as the name suggests, are when gifts are left but a specific thing isn't named, for example, 'I leave a necklace to my daughter Jane'. A specific legacy is, once again, quite obvious in that it is a gift where something specific is named or identified, for instance, 'I leave my 9 carat gold, ruby stoned necklace to my daughter Jane'.

A residuary legacy is whatever is left (the residues) once the outstanding debts have been paid and the other legacies have been distributed. If there is anything left to a beneficiary who has died, that gift will become residue.

Answer: Annie

A person who dies without a will is said to have died 'intestate', meaning that the rules of intestacy must be followed. If they have no surviving spouse or children, the estate will be given to the nearest surviving relative, the measure of a 'close relative' is as follows; parents, then siblings of whole blood, siblings of half blood, grandparents, uncles/aunts of whole blood and finally, uncles/aunts of half blood. If they have absolutely no surviving relatives, their estate goes to the state (crown), this is known as 'Bona Vacantia'.

Answer: Forfeiture Rule

According to the Forfeiture rule, anybody who unlawfully kills the testator cannot benefit from the will. The Forfeiture Act 1982 was used to soften this rule and enables people found guilty of murdering the testator to obtain relief from the forfeiture rule, claim for financial provision from their estate, and receive pensions and social security benefits. People convicted of things like suicide pacts and infanticide can claim within 3 months of their conviction.

The leading case for this is Re K (1985).

Answer: Law Reform (Succession) Act 1995

The Law Reform (Succession) Act 1995 ensures cohabitees are provided for but states they must have lived together for more than 2 years. If they haven't, dependency upon the testator must be shown.