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GLOSSARY

Privileged will definition

Published by a LexisNexis Wills & Probate expert

What does Privileged will mean?

Men or women serving in the Royal Navy, the Army, the Royal Marines or the Royal Air Force, and sailors at sea, may make valid wills without complying with the formalities laid down in ordinary circumstances.

A privileged will need not be in writing, although when it is oral (or nuncupative) the court must be satisfied of the exact words used, or at least their substance, and that it was the intention of the deceased to make a disposition on his death. A privileged written will need not be signed by the testator or attested. A minor who is entitled to make a privileged will and who has attained the age of 14 for males and 12 for females is entitled to make a will.

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Validity of Wills—privileged Wills

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19): For Wills made on or after 31 January 2020, the formal requirement for a valid Will to be witnessed in the presence of two witnesses includes both physical and virtual presence, to allow Wills to be validly witnessed remotely by way of video conference. For the latest guidance on this temporary change (which takes effect for Wills made up to and including 31 January 2024), see Practice Note: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—remote witnessing of Wills. Note that the guidance below relates to WA 1837 in its unchanged form.Statement of the privilegeSection 11 of Wills Act 1837 (WA 1837) provides 'that any soldier being in actual military service, or any mariner or seaman being at sea, may dispose of his personal estate' without any formalities (that is, the Will does not have to be in writing or, if the Will is in writing, it does not have to comply with the usual formalities under WA 1837, s 9) as to execution.The provision has been extended to real property situated in England or Ireland by Wills (Soldiers and Sailors) Act 1918...

Probate actions—want of due execution

In order to validate their Wills testators dying before 1 January 1964 must have followed the execution formalities set out in the Wills Act 1837 (WA 1837) and Wills Act Amendment Act 1852 (WAAA 1852). For testators dying on or after that date the Wills Act 1963 (WA 1963) provides relief from the rigidity of those earlier Acts.Amendments in the Administration of Justice Act 1982 (AJA 1982) extend the availability of limited reliefs to those testators who make errors in execution but only in respect of those who die on or after 1 January 1983.As amended, the execution formalities now provide that a Will shall not be valid unless:•it is in writing and signed by the testator or by some other person in his presence and by his direction and•it appears that the testator intended by his signature to give effect to the Will, and•the signature is made or acknowledged by the testator in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time, and•each witness either:◦attests and...

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