Development of Formal Requirements for Wills: Towards a Change for Better Wills

Abstract

Formal Wills are defined by statute because statutorily specified formal

features are needed to give them validity. The features which include

writing and proper execution were not all conceived simultaneously with

the notion of testamentary disposition as we have them today. The

statutory journey of these features may have begun before the birth of

Wills under the 1837 Wills of England. This article traces the use of

formal features in testamentary disposition to meet the yearnings of

persons who desired their last wishes to be honoured. Change, which is a

prevalent feature in the development of Wills, appears to be undermined

after the Wills Act, despite the shortfalls in the application of the

statutory requirements. This paper analyses the subject, and notes that

formal features can be made self-proven and all-encompassing when

communicated through technological means. The paper asserts that

change in the direction of technology is required for Wills made under the

digital era. It proposes the incorporation of technological changes into

Wills and recommends amendment to the provisions on the Wills law to

include the use of technological devices in communicating Wills.