Jobs & Education1 min ago
Invalid wills
Could a will be declared invalid if the main beneficiary is known to be deceased at the time of making the will? (ie evidence that the person making the will was of unsound mind ?).
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.That alone is not going to be evidence, if only for the good reasons given by Ethel.It is extraordinarily difficult to successfully challenge a will on the grounds that the testator lacked testamentary capacity (e.g.was of unsound mind) and : did not know or understand what it was that they were executing.The courts will do their best to preserve the will because they accept that old people, in particular,may be quite perverse in their dispositions in any case yet understand what they are doing.It is obvious that the testator may forget or not know that given individuals have died but still be fully capable of understanding what they are doing in making a will. The deceased beneficiary's share will fall into the residue and be distributed accordingly , unless the testator has given specific instructions to give it to some other named individual in the event of the original named beneficiary being unable or unwilling to accept it.
fred
I'd appreciate it if you could clarify your last sentence please.
Are you saying that the bequest would fall into the residue because the beneficiary was dead before the will was made, or are you saying this would happen in any case where the beneficiary dies before the testator (unless the will includes instructions that the bequest is then to go to others, such as the beneficiary's children)?
I've been under the impression that it automatically went to whoever benefited under the will (or intestacy) of the pre-deceased beneficiary.
I'd appreciate it if you could clarify your last sentence please.
Are you saying that the bequest would fall into the residue because the beneficiary was dead before the will was made, or are you saying this would happen in any case where the beneficiary dies before the testator (unless the will includes instructions that the bequest is then to go to others, such as the beneficiary's children)?
I've been under the impression that it automatically went to whoever benefited under the will (or intestacy) of the pre-deceased beneficiary.
dzug is right. To answer the second part :" the will speaks from death''. You have to look at the position at the time of the testator/ testatrix's death. It doesn't matter whether the beneficiary died before the will was signed and witnessed or between then and the death of the testator or whether the beneficiary never existed at all.