What if someone is a bit vague or believes things that aren't true, can they make a will?

Feb 02 Posted by Bernie Hayward in Wills
  • The legal terms for this Capacity to make a will.
  • The classic definition was given in a 1870 case of Banks -v- Goodfellow where the test was said to be that the person making the will must:
    • understand the nature of making a will and its effect
    • where a house has to be cleaned up and this involves a reasonable amount of unpaid time (not when you engage a cleaner to do it)
    • known the extent of the property they own or may own at the time of death
    • comprehend and appreciate the claims (ie. moral claims) that they should take into account
    • suffer no disorder of the mind that poisons their affections, perverting their sense of right or prevent the exercise of natural faculties
    • that no insane delusion shall influence his will in disposing of his property and bring about a disposal of it which, if the mind had been sound, would not have been made.
PRINT