TSEM6034 - Legal background to trusts and estates: a valid will

A will reflects the wishes of the person making it (a testator). It explains how to dispose of their possessions (estate). »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp testator must acknowledge, in the document, that it is their will. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýappy have to sign it in the presence of two witnesses. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp witnesses have then to sign the document in the testatorsv presence, and normally in the presence of each other. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp document (often called the last will and testament) has to follow the correct format.

Codicil

A testator can alter a will without scrapping it, by preparing a codicil. This is a separate document that alters or explains the original. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp testator must sign it in the presence of two witnesses. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýappy must then sign it in the presence of the testator. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýappy do not have to be the same people who witnessed the original will.