A recent decision from the United Kingdom considered whether the will of an individual who had benefited only some of his children was properly executed.

Ranjit Singh died in March 2009.  Pursuant to the terms of a will he made in 1999, he left the bulk of his £870,000 estate to his three sons.  His three daughters didn’t fair as well – two of them received bequests of £20,000, while the third daughter received nothing.

After the deceased’s death, one of the daughters challenged his will on the basis that it had not been properly executed.  In the United Kingdom, the rules regarding the proper execution of a will are the similar to those in Ontario –  pursuant to s. 9 of the Wills Act 1837, the will must be signed by the testator in the presence of two witnesses who must then witness the testator’s signature in the presence of the testator.  

Here, the deceased’s daughter alleged that the witnesses to the will were not actually present when the deceased signed it.  One of the deceased’s sons (who was a lawyer) defended the will and argued that the reason the deceased had left his estate mainly to his three sons was because in Sikh tradition daughters are treated as being part of their husband’s family and financially provided for through dowries when they marry.  However, it’s not clear whether the son had any evidence to suggest the will had been properly executed. 

Ultimately, the court found in favour of the daughter and set aside the deceased’s will.  In considering the evidence, the judge found that there was strong evidence to suggest that the will was not executed properly.  Particularly persuasive was the evidence of one of the witnesses that he and the other witness were not present when the will was signed. 

The court found that notwithstanding the fact that setting aside the will would frustrate the deceased’s intentions regarding the distribution of his estate, given the will was not properly executed it simply wasn’t valid.  The effect of the court's decision was that the decesed's estate was distributed pursuant to the rules of intestacy and all his children shared in it equally.