Testamentary capacity is the legal and mental ability to make or alter a valid Will. The test for capacity is assessed on a case by case basis and is based on case law.

The requirements that need to be satisfied to ensure a Will is valid in England are contained within section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 and one the most crucial requirements to enable a valid Will to be created is that you have the requisite Testamentary capacity to make the Will.

As such the Bequeathed online interview will ask you a series of questions relating to your physical and mental well-being. The purpose of these questions is to ascertain whether there are any issues that may prevent you understanding the nature and effect of your Will when you make it. We at Bequeathed are also on hand to assist you with this section and help explain if we feel there may be anything that may affect your capacity to make a Will and what we can do to assist should that be the case.

Depending on your answers, we may recommend that you seek expert advice from either our Head of Legal or one of our panel law firms. We will not ask you to go into details in the interview as such information will be dealt with on a one to one basis with a specialist private client Solicitor or Will writer.