Long title | An Act for the Amendment of the Laws with respect to Wills. |
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Citation | 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 26 |
Introduced by | Attorney General Sir John Campbell |
Territorial extent | England and Wales, Northern Ireland |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 3 July 1837 |
Commencement | 1 January 1838 |
Repealed | 28 August 2007 (in New Zealand) |
Other legislation | |
Amends | Statute of Frauds |
Amended by | Family Law Reform Act 1969 Administration of Justice Act 1982 Family Law Act 1986 Law Reform (Succession) Act 1995 |
Repealed by | Wills Act 2007 (New Zealand) |
Relates to | Wills (Soldiers and Sailors) Act 1918 |
Status: Amended | |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Revised text of statute as amended |
The Wills Act 1837 (7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 26) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that confirms the power of every adult to dispose of their real and personal property, whether they are the outright owner or a beneficiary under a trust, by will on their death (s.3). The act extends to all testamentary dispositions or gifts, where "a person makes a disposition of his property to take effect after his decease, and which is in its own nature ambulatory and revocable during his life."[2] As of 2012[update], much of it remains in force in England and Wales.