In order for your Scottish Will to be valid, the Will must be:
- made by someone who is 12 years old or over; and
- made voluntarily and without undue pressure from ant third party; and
- made by someone who is of sound mind. This means that the person must have understanding of:
- The nature of the act and its effects
- The extent of the property of which the client is disposing
- The claims to which the client ought to give effect
- it goes without saying that your Scottish Will must be in writing! This is formally contained within the Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995.
Furthermore, your Will must be signed, dated and witnessed correctly. This process is called “attestation”. This should be carried out when you are in the presence of an adult witness who has the capacity to act in such a role. The witness should be over the age of sixteen, of sound mind and not blind.
Ideally there should be at least two witnesses.
Please note that it is important that the witness is not a beneficiary of your Will, nor are they married to a beneficiary of your new Will or could benefit in any way from your new Will. If this happens, the provision of benefits to the beneficiary will fail and they would receive nothing.
The witness is not there to read the contents of the Will, they are simply there to witness your signature.
So, in the presence of your witness you should:
1. Sign at the foot of EVERY page of the Will and
2. At the end of your Will, this will clearly indicated.
3. Sign using your usual everyday signature.
The witness should see you sign the Will or at least have you acknowledge that it is your signature which you signed freely and not under any form of duress. After you have signed the witness should then:
4. Sign where indicated on the last page of your new Will.
5. Print where indicated their name, address, date and town or city where signed. These prompts will all be contained within the last page of the Will.
5. That’s it, your Scottish Will is now a valid legal document and as such should be stored in a safe place. That is an additional service that we can provide on your behalf, see our section regarding Will Storage.
If you cannot read or write or have impaired vision you should see a Solicitor, Justice of the Peace, Advocate of Sheriff Clerk to obtain a notarial execution. If this is the case please contact us in order that we can assist you with this matter.
To receive qualified and ethical advice in relation to any aspect of your Scottish Will-Writing and Estate Planning requirements, please visit our contact page.