Paola Fudakowska & Henrietta Mason provide a wills & probate round-up
In the case of Marley v Rawlings and Anor [2014] UKSC 2, [2014] 1 All ER 807, Alfred Rawlings and his wife Maureen Rawlings executed wills drafted by their solicitor on 17 May 1999. The wills were identical; each spouse left his or her estate to the other, and then to Terry Marley, who they treated as their son.
By an oversight, the solicitor gave each spouse the other’s draft will, which were then signed in error.
Mrs Rawlings died in 2003. Her estate passed to Mr Rawlings without anyone noticing the error, which only came to light when Mr Rawlings died in August 2006. Mr and Mrs Rawlings’ two sons challenged the validity of the will that Mr Rawlings had signed. If it was invalid, Mr Rawlings would have died intestate and the sons would inherit the estate.
Mr Marley sought rectification of the will signed by Mr Rawlings under s 20 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982 (AJA 1982) so that it would contain what was in
