When mistakes in Wills are found, there are possible solutions via the Courts and the rules surrounding the construction (interpretation) of a Will. The recent case of Bonham v Stringer provides a fascinating example of this, which we have analysed in greater detail in this article.

Bonham v Stringer – The Background

A High Court claim was issued last year regarding the Will of David Seabrook. The Will was dated 22 November 2017, and David died on 27 February 2019 with no spouse, civil partner or children to survive him. In his Will, David specified that the residue of his estate was to be “divided into four parts of equal value”. The Will, however, contained gifts of only three of those four equal parts. In other words, it was silent as to how one quarter of the residue should be distributed. 

The Judge considered whether this failure to deal with a quarter of the residue could have been intentional. Were this the case, the intestacy rules would apply so that the part of the residue left unaccounted for would pass in accordance with a statutory order of priority (in this case, one quarter of the residue would pass to David’s next of kin and not between the other beneficiaries identified in the Will). 

Bonham v Stringer – The Outcome

However, in this example of how mistakes in Wills are handled, the Judge found it impossible to accept that this could have been the testator’s intention, particularly where the Will had been professionally drafted by solicitors who would have explicitly stated the fact that this quarter of the estate was to pass to the testator’s next of kin, instead of being silent on this point.

Instead, the Judge concluded it clear that the word “four” had been inserted by mistake and the clause dealing with the residue was intended to divide it into three equal parts. The Judge found that the error resulted in a failure to save the correct and final draft of the Will before executing it.

Key Takeaways

While Bonham v Stringer demonstrates that the Court can help to overcome mistakes in Wills and make declarations as to the true construction of a Will, this process is expensive, time-consuming and stressful. It is incredibly important to ensure that your Will is properly drafted, and taking the time to check that your Will is valid will help to eliminate any risk that circumstances like this, where a small error confused the intentions of the entire will, will create any uncertainty for your estate in the future.

Putting a Will in place is too important to leave to chance and the case above reinforces the importance of having a carefully drafted Will. At Kitson Boyce, our expert Private Client lawyers have years of experience reviewing, drafting and implementing valid Wills. Simply contact us by calling 01803 202020 or emailing [email protected] and we will be happy to help you.