Wills & Succession

Grounded revision for Wills & Succession: notes, verified MCQs and case flashcards across 10 syllabus topics. Every question and flashcard is grounded in a real briefed authority and checked against the corpus.

Syllabus

• Will ValiditySuccession

  Testamentary capacity (Banks v Goodfellow test) · Testamentary intention · Wills Act 1837 s.9 formalities: writing, signature, attestation

• Revocation & RevivalSuccession

  Express revocation by later will/codicil · Physical destruction · Automatic revocation on marriage; divorce effect (s.18A)

• Construction & Failure of GiftsSuccession

  Lapse (predeceasing beneficiary); s.33 Wills Act survivorship · Ademption, satisfaction, election · Class gifts and survivorship rules

• IntestacySuccession

  Statutory distribution hierarchy (Administration of Estates Act 1925) · Spouse/civil partner entitlement and statutory legacy · Issue, parents, siblings distribution rules

• Family ProvisionSuccession

  Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 - eligible applicants · Reasonable financial provision standard (spouse vs others) · Court discretion and s.3 factors

• Secret & Half-Secret TrustsSuccession

  Fully secret trusts: communication and acceptance · Half-secret trusts: timing of communication rule · Theoretical basis (fraud prevention vs express trust)

• Mutual WillsSuccession

  Agreement and binding obligation (Re Goodchild) · Constructive trust mechanism post-first death

• Donatio Mortis CausaSuccession

  Three conditions: contemplation of death, conditional delivery, dominion · Wilkes v Allington authority

• Estate Administration & RepresentationSuccession

  Personal representatives: executors vs administrators · Grants of probate and letters of administration · Duties of PRs; collecting and distributing estate

• Tax in Succession ContextSuccession

  Inheritance Tax basics (nil-rate band, exemptions, reliefs) · CGT on estate assets · Income tax on estate income

• Banks v Goodfellow (as cited in Fiona Burgess v Julie Elizabeth Whittle & Anor)

  What are the four limbs of the Banks v Goodfellow testamentary capacity test?

  [2025] EWHC 2633 (Ch)
• Fiona Burgess v Julie Elizabeth Whittle & Anor

  Has the Mental Capacity Act 2005 replaced the Banks v Goodfellow testamentary capacity test?

  [2025] EWHC 2633 (Ch)
• John Keith Clitheroe v Susan Jane Bond

  What issue was central in Clitheroe v Bond regarding testamentary capacity?

  [2022] EWHC 2203 (Ch)