Requirements for making a valid will

For a Will to be legally valid and binding, the following general rules apply:

• The Will must be in writing.
• You must be over 18 or be/have been married
• You must be of sound mind. This means the person making the will must be fully aware of the nature of the document being written or signed and aware of the property and the identify of the people who may inherit. While your Will speaks from death, the date of determining if a Will is valid is the date the Will was signed.
• The Will must be made voluntarily and without pressure from any other person
• The Will must be correctly signed or marked.
• The Will must be correctly witnessed.
• The Will must be dated.

These are legal requirements and if they any of them are not met, it may result in the Will being set aside and not being regarded as a valid Will. If the Will is not regarded as being a valid Will then the previous Will made by the deceased person will be regarded as the last Will and testament or if there is no Will then the rules of intestacy shall apply. If you want to change your Will after you make it, you can add a codicil (amendment or change) to your Will; this codicil must meet the same requirements set out above. If someone makes a Will but it is not legally valid, on their death their estate will be shared out under the rules of intestacy, not according to the wishes expressed in the Will.

If you own property abroad, it is important to make a Will in that foreign jurisdiction to specifically deal with that property. Your Irish solicitor should be furnished with a copy (and translated copy, if necessary) of the foreign Will to ensure that any clauses contained in it do not revoke your Irish Will.

Request a Call Back or contact us directly and one of our team will discuss your Will or Estate and how we can assist you.