The England and Wales Court of Appeal (EWCA) has ruled that a revocation clause in a Will made by Hartar Sangha in 2016 revoked his 2007 will in full rather than simply the portion dealing with his assets in India.

In this case, the client who having been born in India became a naturalised British citizen. He died in 2016 with considerable assets in both the UK and India. He also had two separate families with children and upon his death there was a dispute between the two families relating to his final two Wills. In particular his 2007 Will and the 2016 Will and which should take effect/ what his intentions actually were.

The 2007 Will had left all assets in the UK and India to one woman, Jaswinder Sangha and their son in the alternative.

The 2016 Will which did not reference his UK assets divided his Indian assets to the other woman known as Diljit Sangha, her son, his sister and the son of Jaswinder Sangha.

The 2016 also contained a general revocation clause "This is my last and final Will and all such previous documents stand cancelled"

The dispute centred around whether the intention was to revoke the 2007 Will completely or only in relation to the Indian assets as it did not mention the English assets.

Without setting out full details of the case journey, the England and Wales High Court in 2022 found that "the plain words of revocation could not be clearer and that all other wills were cancelled, there being nothing to sufficiently contradict them"

The judgment initially resulted in an intestacy in relation to the UK estate however that was appealed and in 2022 the England and Wales High Court agreed that the revocation clause in the 2016 Will only revoked part of the 2007 Will that dealt with the deceased's Indian estate. The rest of the 2007 Will was therefore declared valid in disposing of the UK estate. This was subsequently overturned again and the conclusion currently is that the initial judgment was indeed correct.

"The general revocation clause is strong evidence of the testator's intention to revoke all previous wills."

There are other cases where there have been successful challenges however and the point t make is that it is absolutely crucial to disclose all assets in all jurisdictions when making a Will in any country and ensure that you are clear and discuss with your legal advisor which Wills need to be revoked/ remain and also discuss whether it is indeed appropriate to make a further Will in another jurisdiction taking into account others. The revocation clause in each needs to be very carefully drafted and clear to avoid the litigation as above.