Home-made wills are becoming increasingly popular. Although setting down in writing your intentions for after death is a good idea, home-made wills often do not contain vital information – which in turn can create problems in dealing with the legal matters once that person dies.
If there’s information missing (such as the name or address of the executor or, in an unfortunate situation where an executor has been named yet they die before you and a backup executor has not been named in the will) this can make things harder for your family and friends to deal with.
Rectifying errors in home-made wills can be very, very expensive. In some cases, the intentions of the person who wrote the will cannot be carried-out because the will itself does not pass the test to be regarded as valid.
The Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995 is an Act of Parliament that sets out the information needed for a will to be deemed valid in Scotland, and often these home-made wills do not meet the necessary criteria.
The 1995 Act contains rules which a Will must conform to for it to be regarded as valid. These include: a signature on each page by the person making the Will and on the last page in the presence of one independent witness; the date of signing is required too. Typically, the town/city where it was signed is noted on the final page, for the avoidance of doubt.
We advise that if you would like to make a will you contact us today on 0141 628 5544 or info@weirlaw.co.uk and we can ensure that we create a Will that is to the correct standard – eliminating any foreseeable future problems that a homemade will could bring.
