A case came before High Court Ms. Justice Stack who handles probate matters involving a home-made Will. Here it was evident that a Will was made by the testator who wrote the Will from templates he took from the Internet.
The judge cautioned that the use of self-made Wills taken from the Internet is very likely to create difficulties with their interpretation.
The judge urged members of the public to make a Will with professional advice and to update it from time to time.
The judge made her comments when such a case came before her. Here, the deceased man, William John Murphy died unmarried and with no living children. It was apparent from the Will that Mr. Murphy had used Will templates taken from the Internet and drafted his Will from that source.
She said in her judgment that the use of the Internet-sourced template ‘significantly reduced’ the assets available for distribution to the beneficiaries under his Will.
The applicants took the case to the High Court for its interpretation of the Will. The judge observed that had the three beneficiaries not taken the case to the High Court for interpretation, it was most likely the Executor would have had to do so for the same reasons.
The judge had to decide, because of the confusing language in the Will, which caused difficulties in its interpretation, whether the Will was void because of uncertainty.
Mr. Murphy died in November 2021 leaving a house and surrounding lands worth about €335,000, a credit union account worth €23,000 but under the wording in the Will only €298 was available for distribution to the beneficiaries.
The deceased’s brother, Brendan Murphy was named in the Will as executor of the estate and was the defendant in the action brought by the three named beneficiaries. They contended that the Will was confusing, contradictory, and void in whole or in part for uncertainty. The plaintiffs, who were nieces and a nephew of the deceased, sought the court’s interpretation of the Will whose valid execution was not under challenge.
Additionally, there were six other niece and nephew beneficiaries listed under ‘additional provisions’ which provided for ‘any monies’ to be divided among them ‘once my funeral expenses are paid in full.’
Another clause in the Will stated that any beneficiary who contested the Will in any court would not be entitled to any benefits under it. This clause the judge said was contrary to public policy and would be void.
However, the judge ruled that the Will was not void for uncertainty despite the confusion of some of its clauses.
This case shows the risk of taking templates from the Internet. Different countries have different rules governing Wills so taking such a template from the Internet does not necessarily mean that it would be suitable under Irish law which is governed by the Succession Act, 1965 with amendments.
Goodman and Others v Murphy [2023] IEHC 383.
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