Title: What to do if a will has been lost, damaged or destroyed
Headings: What to do if a will has been lost, damaged or destroyed?
What to do if a will has been lost, damaged or destroyed?
Damaged or Destroyed Wills
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Content: What to do if a will has been lost, damaged or destroyed
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What to do if a will has been lost, damaged or destroyed? Damaged or Destroyed Wills
Where a will has been lost, damaged or destroyed an application can be made to court for evidence of the will’s contents to be accepted in place of the original will. A will does not take effect until death and generally speaking, can be changed or revoked at any time. A will can be revoked by destruction by the person making the will. Therefore, when a will which was known to be in the deceased person’s possession cannot be found upon their death it raises the question: has it been lost or destroyed? In these circumstances there is a presumption that the will has been destroyed with the intention to revoke it. However, in some circumstances evidence of the person’s intentions can be put forward and accepted in place of the will. An example of this is where a will was destroyed in a property fire and there was evidence remaining of its contents. It is up to those seeking to benefit under the lost will to prove that the person did not intend to revoke it.