Making and Executing a Will (16:III): Difference between revisions
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Making and Executing a Will (16:III) (view source)
Revision as of 22:38, 17 August 2022
, 17 August 2022→b) Position of Signature
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'''Section 37(1)(b) of ''WESA'' requires the signature be at the end of the will'''. Section 39(2) defines when a will is deemed to be signed at the end and provides that a disposition made below or after the signature is of no effect. Case law has taken a liberal view of these requirements, finding a signature not at the end to have been intended to be at the end (''In the Goods of Henry Hornby'', [1946] All ER 150 and ''[https://www.canlii.org/en/mb/mbqb/doc/1981/1981canlii3424/1981canlii3424.html?autocompleteStr=Currie%20v%20Potter%20%5B1981%5D%206%20WWR%20377%20(Man%20QB)&autocompletePos=1 Currie v Potter]'' [1981] 6 WWR 377 (Man QB)) and finding a disposition after the signature to have been intended to precede the signature (''Palin v Ponting'', [1930] para 185, considered in ''Beniston Estate v Shepherd'', (1996) 16 ETR (2d) 71 (BCSC)). However, to ensure the validity of the will and all dispositions, the will should be signed at its end, after all dispositions. When a will is more than one page, it should be signed at the end of the last page and there should be a portion of the will on the last page. The last page of the will should indicate the will-maker is signing this page as the last of all the pages constituting the will. Although not required, the will-maker and witnesses should initial the other pages of the will. | '''Section 37(1)(b) of ''WESA'' requires the signature be at the end of the will'''. Section 39(2) defines when a will is deemed to be signed at the end and provides that a disposition made below or after the signature is of no effect. Case law has taken a liberal view of these requirements, finding a signature not at the end to have been intended to be at the end (''In the Goods of Henry Hornby'', [1946] All ER 150 and ''[https://www.canlii.org/en/mb/mbqb/doc/1981/1981canlii3424/1981canlii3424.html?autocompleteStr=Currie%20v%20Potter%20%5B1981%5D%206%20WWR%20377%20(Man%20QB)&autocompletePos=1 Currie v Potter]'' [1981] 6 WWR 377 (Man QB)) and finding a disposition after the signature to have been intended to precede the signature (''Palin v Ponting'', [1930] para 185, considered in ''Beniston Estate v Shepherd'', (1996) 16 ETR (2d) 71 (BCSC)). However, to ensure the validity of the will and all dispositions, the will should be signed at its end, after all dispositions. When a will is more than one page, it should be signed at the end of the last page and there should be a portion of the will on the last page. The last page of the will should indicate the will-maker is signing this page as the last of all the pages constituting the will. Although not required, the will-maker and witnesses should initial the other pages of the will. | ||
==== c) Electronic Signatures ==== | ==== c) Electronic Signatures ==== |