Brief history of Newwalk Chambers



Find by month


Find by label

Blog

Marley v Rawlings: Will valid despite clerical error

28 Jan 2014, 15:03 by Priya Bakshi

0 comments

A couple made identical wills in 1999. Each spouse left the other their entire estate; if the other had already died then the estate was then to be left to Terry Marley; a non-relative but someone who was treated as their son. The two sons of the couple were not named as beneficiaries. A clerical error resulted in the couple signing each other’s wills.

Mrs Rawling died in 2003 and her estate passed to her Mr Rawling without anyone noticing the error. However when Mr Rawling died in 2006, the error came to light. The couple’s sons therefore challenged the validity of the Mr Rawling’s will.

The Court of Appeal upheld the initial judge’s decision in that the will was invalid and so the two sons would inherit Mr Rawling’s estate.

The Supreme Court held that this couple in fact intended to leave their estate to Mr Marley. It was held that the will should be rectified on the basis that there had been a clerical error. This decision therefore widens the Courts powers to rectify wills on the basis of clerical errors.




Comments

There are no comments for this entry.


Enter your comments



This verification code helps prevent unfair use of automated programs:
Visual CAPTCHA



The New Walk Chambers Blog page is only intended to provide an accessible forum for a general overview and discussion of the topics posted on it. It is not meant to be a substitute for taking legal advice in any particular situation and should not be so used. Neither New Walk Chambers nor the author(s) accept any responsibility for anything done or not done on the basis of the contents of the Blog page.


Website developed by Focus New Media