Private client · Private client fee-earner, executor, probate paralegal
Check a will for execution and capacity issues
An executor has produced a will written on a shop-bought form and signed at a care home eight months before death. The review checks execution, capacity evidence and whether any of the gifts fail as drafted.
The problem
Step 01 of 05
Open the estate matter
Client is the executor, practice area Private client, jurisdiction England and Wales, and the conflict check runs against the beneficiaries as well as the deceased.
Project Halcyon: SPA warranties and disclosure
Buy-side warranty review, disclosure analysis and cited due-diligence grid.
- Client
- Halcyon Bidco Ltd
- Reference
- WC-2026-0412
- Practice area
- Corporate / M&A
- Jurisdiction
- England and Wales
- Responsible partner
- E. Vance
No conflict check on file.Chat, on this matter
Compare warranties with the disclosure letter.
Three high-priority exceptions require action: the unregistered charge, the change-of-control right and the tribunal claim.
Send a message… (@ to mention tools)BalancedPrepare for- 25 Aug
Disclosure exceptions matrix
Chat
- 21 Aug
Disclosure exceptions matrix
Run · completed · 560 credits
- 18 Aug
Project Halcyon: Disclosure Letter
Document · indexed
- 16 Aug
Project Halcyon: Share Purchase Agreement
Document · indexed
- 4 Aug
Matter opened
Opened
Step 02 of 05
Add the will and the surrounding papers
The will, an earlier will held on file, the care home's medical summary and the attendance note from the solicitor who did not draft it are uploaded.
Project Halcyon: SPA warranties and disclosure
Buy-side warranty review, disclosure analysis and cited due-diligence grid.
- Client
- Halcyon Bidco Ltd
- Reference
- WC-2026-0412
- Practice area
- Corporate / M&A
- Jurisdiction
- England and Wales
- Responsible partner
- E. Vance
No conflict check on file.Chat, on this matter
Compare warranties with the disclosure letter.
Three high-priority exceptions require action: the unregistered charge, the change-of-control right and the tribunal claim.
Send a message… (@ to mention tools)BalancedPrepare for- 25 Aug
Disclosure exceptions matrix
Chat
- 21 Aug
Disclosure exceptions matrix
Run · completed · 560 credits
- 18 Aug
Project Halcyon: Disclosure Letter
Document · indexed
- 16 Aug
Project Halcyon: Share Purchase Agreement
Document · indexed
- 4 Aug
Matter opened
Opened
Step 03 of 05
Run the validity review
Prepare for: Work-Stream Memo. The instruction covers execution and attestation, the evidence bearing on capacity, knowledge and approval, and any gift that fails on its wording.
Agent
Jurisdiction
Prepare for
Deliver as
Instruction
What should the agent look for?Documents
Drop a contract, or pick one from the matter
Also on the matter
- Offer_letter_v3.pdf2 pages
- Staff_handbook_2025.docx61 pages
- Board_minute_14_Aug.pdf3 pages
Platform model · zero data retention · audit register onStep 04 of 05
Read what fails and what is at risk
One witness is the spouse of a beneficiary, which affects that gift but not the will. A residuary gift to a class described loosely will need construction.
6 items need your confirmation14 authorities · Where we lookedSenior Associate Employment Contract: English Law Review
Summary
- 1.
Clause 9(c), non-competeHigh
The 12-month prohibition on working for any law firm anywhere in the UK, Ireland or EU, in any capacity, is almost certainly wider than reasonably necessary and therefore unlikely to be enforceable.
Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd [2019] UKSC 32 - 2.
Clause 11, data and monitoringHigh
Blanket contractual consent is not an adequate basis for general employment processing, special-category data or unrestricted monitoring.
UK GDPR, Arts 6 and 9 - 3.
Clause 4, holiday carry-overHigh
The unconditional five-day cap conflicts with mandatory carry-over rights where sickness, statutory leave or employer failure prevents leave being taken.
Working Time Regulations 1998, regs 13 to 13A
- 1.
Step 05 of 05
Gather the evidence
Action items name the affidavit of due execution to obtain, the witnesses to contact and the medical records to request, each with an owner.
Replace the UK/Ireland/EU non-compete with a 3 to 6 month restriction tied to competing corporate-law work.
Replace blanket data consent with a lawful-basis clause and a separate monitoring notice.
Remove the five-day carry-over cap and reference the statutory carry-over rules.
Narrow the client non-solicit to clients dealt with in the final 12 months.
Add an explicit working-time opt-out withdrawal mechanism.
Confirm the bonus clause states the discretion is exercised in good faith.
What comes back
A document, not a transcript.
- An execution and attestation analysis against the statutory requirements, with the witness problem identified.
- A capacity assessment based on the documents supplied, stated as an assessment of the evidence rather than a conclusion.
- The gifts that fail or need construction, each with the wording that causes the difficulty.
- An evidence-gathering list with owners, covering the affidavit, the witnesses and the medical records.
Authorities it checks
- Wills Act 1837, s 9
- Wills Act 1837, s 15
- Banks v Goodfellow (1870) LR 5 QB 549
- Mental Capacity Act 2005
What it does not do
- It does not decide whether the testator had capacity. It sets out the evidence and the test and leaves the judgement to the fee-earner.
- It does not apply for a grant or contact the witnesses.
- It does not obtain medical records; those are named as an action item with an owner.