
‘Under a Victorian law, any person can legally revoke their will by ripping it up. For the destruction to be valid, either the will must have been intentionally destroyed by the will-maker – or they must have properly instructed a solicitor’
Disputes around wills are frequent and rarely simple. The court recently heard a dispute about whether a 92 year old lady had validly revoked her will by tearing it up in her hospital bed.
The dispute did not revolve around the question whether destroying a will means that it is revoked, as that is the law, but whether the will was validly destroyed. This is because the will-maker only managed to rip the will three-quarters through. Her solicitor then finished off the process for her. The dispute revolves around whether the lady had the capacity to legally approve the completion of the will destruction, that is to say whether she was able to properly instruct her solicitor to tear up the will for her, as she was medicated and in pain.
If it is determined that the will was validly revoked, the lady will have died intestate with her sister being entitled to her estate, rather than the cousins mentioned in the will.
The judge in the case has reserved judgment, but the case demonstrates that the validity of the old Victorian law still stands.
Under a Victorian law, any person can legally revoke their will by ripping it up. For the destruction to be valid, either the will must have been intentionally destroyed by the will-maker – or they must have properly instructed a solicitor to do so.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/22/inheritance-row-after-92-year-old-rips-up-will-on-deathbed/