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27 October 2020 / Debra Burton
Issue: 7908 / Categories: Features , Wills & Probate
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Wills—to dispense, or not to dispense: that is the question

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With the government retrospectively amending the law to allow for the video-witnessing of wills during the COVID-19 pandemic, is the next step the introduction of dispensing powers & is it a good thing, asks Debra Burton

In brief

  • What could the future hold?
  • Should England and Wales ‘get with the times’?
  • Certainty: protecting the testator.

It’s rather surprising that since it was enacted, the Wills Act 1837 has remained largely unchanged. The Wills Act provides that the formalities for a valid will are that:

  • it must be in writing;
  • it must be signed by the person making it in the presence of two independent witnesses; and
  • the witnesses must each sign it in the presence of the person making it.

Now the government has taken the first step in relaxing the will writing rules, is it the last?

What could the future hold?

The Law Commission’s 2017 Consultation Paper ‘Making a Will’ (https://bit.ly/31yAcBD) highlighted several areas where will making could be modernised

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