Wills Act 1837

Anno Regni VICTORI, Britanniarum Regin, Primo. An Act for the Amendment of the Laws with respect to Wills.

(7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict.) C A P. XXVI.

[3d July 1837]

BE it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consentof the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That the Words and Expressions herein-after mentioned, which in their ordinary Signification have a more confined or a different Meaning, shall in this Act, except where the Nature of the Provision or the Context of the Act shall exclude such Construction, be interpreted as follows; (that is to say,) the Word ‘Will’ shall extend to a Testament, and to a Codicil, and to an Appointmentby Will or by Writing in the Nature of a Will in exercise of a Power, and also to a Disposition by Will and Testament or Devise of the Custody and Tuition of any Child, by virtue of an Act passed in the Twelfth Year of the Reign of KingCharles the Second, intituled in capiteand by Knights Service, and Purveyance, and for settling a Revenue upon His Majesty in lieu thereof , or by virtue of an Act passed in the Parliament of Ireland in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Years of the Reign of King Charles the Second, intituled in capite , and to any other Testamentary Disposition; and the Words ‘Real Estate’ shall extend to Manors, Advowsons, Messuages, Lands, Tithes, Rents, and Hereditaments, whether Freehold, Customary Freehold, Tenant Right, Customary or Copyhold, or of any other Tenure, and whether corporeal, incorporeal, or personal, and to any undivided Share thereof, and to any Estate, Right, or Interest (other than a Chattel Interest) therein; and the Words‘Personal Estate’ shall extend to Leasehold Estates and other Chattels Real, and also to Monies, Shares of Government and other Funds, Securities for Money (not being Real Estates), Debts, Choses in Action, Rights, Credits, Goods, and all other Property whatsoever which by Lawdevolves upon the Executor or Administrator, and to any Share or Interest therein; and every Word importing the Singular Number only shall extend and be applied to several Persons or Things as well as One Person or Thing; and every Word importing the Masculine Gender only shall extend and be applied to a Female as well as a Male.

S-II Repeal of the Stat. 32 H. 8. c. 1. and 34 & 35 H. 8. c. 5.

II Repeal of the Stat. 32 H. 8. c. 1. and 34 & 35 H. 8. c. 5.

II. And be it further enacted, That an Act passed in the Thirty-second Year of the Reign of KingHenry the Eighth, intituled The Act of Wills, Wards, and Primer Seisins, whereby a Man may devise Two Parts of his Land; and also an Act passed in the Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth Years of the Reign of the said King Henry the Eighth, intituled The Bill concerning the Explanation of Wills; and also an Act passed in the Parliament of Ireland , in the Tenth Year of the Reign of King Charles the First, intituled and also so much of an Act passed in the Twenty-ninth Year of the Reign of KingCharles the Second, intituled , and of an Act passed in the Parliament of Ireland in the Seventh Year of the Reign of KingWilliam the Third, intituled , as relates to Devises or Bequests of Lands or Tenements, or to the Revocation or Alteration of any Devise in Writing of any Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, or any Clause thereof, or to the Devise of any Estatepur autre vie , or to any such Estate being Assets, or to Nuncupative Wills, or to the repeal, altering, or changing of any Will in Writing concerning any Goods or Chattels or Personal Estate, or any Clause, Devise, or Bequest therein; and also so much of an Act passed in the Fourth and Fifth Years of the Reign of Queen , intituled , and of an Act passed in the Parliament ofIreland in the Sixth Year of the Reign of Queen Anne , intituled , as relates to Witnesses to Nuncupative Wills; and also so much of an Act passed in the Fourteenth Year of the Reign of KingGeorge the Second, intituled Charlesthe Second, intituled 'An Act for Prevention of Frauds and Perjuries , as relates to Estates pur autre vie; and also an Act passed in the Twenty-fifth Year of the Reign of King George the Second, intituled Great Britaincalled England, and in His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations in America, except so far as relates to His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations in America; and also an Act passed in the Parliament of Ireland in the same Twenty-fifth Year of the Reign of King George the Second, intituled and also an Act passed in the Fifty-fifth Year of the Reign of KingGeorge the Third, intituled , shall be and the same are hereby repealed, except so far as the same Acts or any of them respectively relate to any Wills or Estatespur autre vie to which this Act does not extend.

S-III All Property may be disposed of by Will.

III All Property may be disposed of by Will.

III. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for every Person to devise, bequeath, or dispose of, by his Will executed in manner herein-after required, all Real Estate and all Personal Estate which he shall be entitled to, either at Law or in Equity, at the Time of his Death, and which if not so devised, bequeathed, or disposed of would devolve upon the Heir at Law, or Customary Heir of him, or, if he became entitled by Descent, of his Ancestor, or upon his Executor or Administrator; and that the Power hereby given shall extend to all Real Estate of the Nature of Customary Freehold or Tenant Right, or Customary or Copyhold, notwithstanding that the Testator may not have surrendered the same to the Use of his Will, or notwithstanding that, being entitled as Heir, Devisee, or otherwise to be admitted thereto, he shall not have been admitted thereto, or notwithstanding that the same, in consequence of the Want of a Custom to devise or surrender to the Use of a Will or otherwise, could not at Law have been disposed of by Will if this Act had not been made, or notwithstanding that the same, in consequence of there being a Custom that a Will or a Surrender to the Use of a Will should continue in force for a limited Time only, or any other special Custom, could not have been disposed of by Will according to the Power contained in this Act, if this Act had not been made; and also to Estatespur autre vie , whether there shall or shall not be any special Occupant thereof, and whether the same shall be Freehold, Customary Freehold, Tenant Right, Customary or Copyhold, or of any other Tenure, and whether the same shall be a corporeal or an incorporeal Hereditament; and also to all contingent, executory, or other future Interests in any Real or Personal Estate, whether the Testator may or may not be ascertained as the Person or one of the Persons in whom the same respectively may become vested, and whether he may be entitled thereto under the Instrument by which the same respectively were created or under any Disposition thereof by Deed or Will; and also to all Rights of Entry for Conditions broken, and other Rights of Entry; and also to such of the same Estates, Interests, and Rights respectively, and other Real and Personal Estate, as the Testator may be entitled to at the Time of his Death, notwithstanding that he may become entitled to the same subsequently to the Execution of his Will.

S-IV As to the Fees and Fines payable by Devisees of Customary and Copyhold Estates.

IV As to the Fees and Fines payable by Devisees of Customary and Copyhold Estates.

IV. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That where any Real Estate of the Nature of Customary Freehold or Tenant Right, or Customary or Copyhold, might, by the Custom of the Manor of which the same is holden, have been surrendered to the Use of a Will, and the Testator shall not have surrendered the same to the Use of his Will, no Person entitled or claiming to be entitled thereto by virtue of such Will shall be entitled to be admitted, except upon Payment of all such Stamp Duties, Fees, and Sums of Money as would have been lawfully due and payable in respect of the surrendering of such Real Estate to the Use of the Will, or in respect of presenting, registering, or enrolling such Surrender, if the same Real Estate had been surrendered to the Use of the Will of such Testator: Provided also, that where the Testator was entitled to have been admitted to such Real Estate, and might, if he had been admitted thereto, have surrendered the same to the Use of his Will, and shall not have been admitted thereto, no Person entitled or claiming to be entitled to such Real Estate in consequence of such Will shall be entitled to be admitted to the same Real Estate by virtue thereof, except on Payment of all such Stamp Duties, Fees, Fine, and Sums of Money as would have been lawfully due and payable in respect of the Admittance of such Testator to such Real Estate, and also of all such Stamp Duties, Fees, and Sums of Money as would have been lawfully due and payable in respect of surrendering such Real Estate to the Use of the Will, or of presenting, registering, or enrolling such Surrender, had the Testator been duly admitted to such Real Estate, and afterwards surrendered the same to the Use of his Will; all which Stamp Duties, Fees, Fine, or Sums of Money due as aforesaid shall be paid in addition to the Stamp Duties, Fees, Fine, or Sums of Money due or payable on the Admittance of such Person so entitled or...

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