Probate in UK Law

What is involved is simply the satisfaction of the test of knowledge and approval, but the court insists that, given that suspicion, it must be the more clearly shown that the deceased knew and approved the contents of the will so that the suspicion is dispelled. But in a case where the circumstances are such as to arouse the suspicion of the court the propounder must prove affirmatively that knowledge and approval so as to satisfy the court that the will represents the wishes of the deceased.

Lloyd J. commented that that evidence showed that the deceased was not being deceived as to the nature of the document he was signing and that he had at least had the opportunity of seeing the documents before they were covered up. Lloyd J. also noted that the provisions of the will were neither complex nor difficult to grasp.

There is no authority which holds that a claim under the Act is not capable of being an “interest”. There is a further practical reason why one should construe, “interest” to include a potential Inheritance Act claim. If this action could not proceed but the Claimant's claim under the Act went ahead, then the judge, when considering all the circumstances, might well feel considerable unease about proceeding on a possibly false assumption about the validity of the will.

However, what that case demonstrates is the strength of the presumption of due execution when there is an attestation clause and the testator and witnesses sign. This court dismissed an appeal to it, the Earl of Selborne L.C. observing (9 PD at p. 161), "I do not know how many wills, really well executed and duly attested, might not be brought into peril if, upon the sort of evidence which we have here, after a lapse of several years, probate were refused."

There is no doubt that a creditor of an estate does not have sufficient interest in an estate to bring a probate claim and that Menzies is still good law. But the interests of the two types of creditor are fundamentally different. The interest of the creditor of a beneficiary is to ensure that the beneficiary receives what is due to him or her under the will or on an intestacy. The interest of a creditor of an estate is to ensure that there is due administration of the estate.

Wills frequently give rise to feelings of disappointment or worse on the part of relatives and other would-be beneficiaries.