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Wills Act
Topic Started: Aug 17 2009, 12:57 AM (208 Views)
Lord Wallace Buttersworth
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Right Honourable Member
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PREAMBLE:
This Act defines the requirements for creation of a will and recovation.

DEFINITION AND REQUIREMENTS OF A WILL:
To define the requirements for creation of a Will which are;
( a ): Any person over the age of majority and of sound mind can draft his or her own will without the aid of an attorney;
( b ): The creator must clearly identify himself or herself as the maker of the will, and that a will is being made; this is commonly called "publication" of the will, and is typically satisfied by the words "last will and testament" on the face of the document;
( c ): The creator must declare that he or she revokes all previous wills and codicils. Otherwise, a subsequent will revokes earlier wills and codicils only to the extent to which they are inconsistent. However, if a subsequent will is completely inconsistent with an earlier one, the earlier will is considered completely revoked by implication;
( d ): The creator must demonstrate that he or she has the capacity to dispose of his or her property, and does so freely and willingly;
( e ): The creator must sign and date the will, usually in the presence of at least two disinterested witnesses (persons who are not beneficiaries). There may be extra witnesses, these are called "supernumary" witnesses, if there is a question as to an interested-party conflict.
( f ): The creator's signature must be placed at the end of the will. If this is not observed, any text following the signature will be ignored, or the entire will may be invalidated if what comes after the signature is so material that ignoring it would defeat the creator's intentions;
( g ): An heir, an heiress or multiple heirs must be clearly stated in the text.

DETAILS AFTER DEATH:

After the creator has died, a probate proceeding may be initiated in court to determine the validity of the will or wills that the creator may have created, i.e., which will satisfied the legal requirements, and to appoint an executor. In most cases, during probate, at least one witness is called upon to testify or sign a "proof of witness" affidavit. If the will is ruled invalid in probate, then inheritance will occur under the laws of intestacy as if a will were never drafted. A time limit of 30 days will be applied, within which a will must be admitted to probate. Only an original will can be admitted to probate in the vast majority of jurisdictions – even the most accurate photocopy will not suffice. There will be no legal requirement that a will be drawn up by a lawyer.

REVOCATION OF A WILL:
Intentional physical destruction of a will by the creator will revoke it, through deliberately burning or tearing the physical document itself, or by striking out the signature. Partial revocation is allowed if only part of the text or a particular provision is crossed out. Other jurisdictions will either ignore the attempt or hold that the entire will was actually revoked. A creator may also be able to revoke by the physical act of another (as would be necessary if he is physically incapacitated), if this is done in his presence and in the presence of witnesses.

A will will also be revoked by the execution of a new will.

The complete revocation of a will automatically revives the next most recent will, while others hold that revocation leaves the creator with no will so that his or her heirs will instead inherit by intestate succession.

As marriage will automatically revoke a will as it is presumed that upon marriage, a creator will want to review the will. A statement in a will that it is made in contemplation of forthcoming marriage to a named person will override this. Divorce, conversely, will not revoke a will, but will have the effect that the former spouse is treated as if they had died before the creator and so will not benefit.

Where a will has been accidentally destroyed, on evidence that this is the case, a copy will or draft will may be admitted to probate.
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DynamoJax
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17th and 20th PM of Ostentia.
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I also support this bill, but I like you to consider adding to Definitions and Requirements something of this nature:

proposed addition
 
Any citizen of Ostentia under the age of majority with a sound mind and consent of parents may devise a will of their own.


I know that may seem slightly ridiculous, but some kids would prefer a certain toy to go to someone or the like. How are parents supposed to know otherwise? Again, my support does not hinge on this inclusion of this provision, I'm only offering it as an idea.
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Lord Wallace Buttersworth
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Right Honourable Member
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Interesting, and somewhat unprecedented. Technically a child under 18 doesn't legally own any assets because they are the legal guardians assets.

Let me research lawlink and some other places to see the precedence for this.
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DMHowe
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Under Investigation
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