The formalities for the signature (also referred to as execution) of Wills are laid down in the Wills Act No 7/1953:
- For obvious reasons, a will cannot be a verbal instruction or record. It must be in writing.
- The last page of the will must be signed by the person making the will(the testator/testatrix).
- His/her signature must be witnessed by two people who are not mentioned or referred to anywhere in the will. The reason for the prohibition is to avoid conflict between interested parties after the deceased’s death.
- The will may be witnessed by anyone who is 14 years or older.
- To assist in the resolution of any problems later, it is advisable to have each witness provide his identity number and address.
- If the will consists of 2 or more pages, the testator is required to sign each additional page
The testator’s signature must be in the original made in ink. A copy will not suffice.
In addition, despite the increasing popularity of electronic signatures, such a signature will also not comply with the requirements of the Act. But given the speed of technological change, the law may well end up being amended in this regard.
If the testator’s signature to a will takes the form of a mark, this will be regarded as compliant with the Act provided a commissioner of oaths certifies on the document that he has satisfied himself as to the identity of the testator.
The above also applies to any changes to a will by way of deletion of words, phrases or paragraphs, etc.
It may happen that a will does not comply with the formalities prescribed by the Act, for example where the testator’s signature was not witnessed. The High Court has in the past had to make rulings in cases like this. The general thrust of their decisions has been that the will should be accepted if the surrounding circumstances show unequivocally that the document in question was without a doubt intended to be the deceased’s will.
It is obviously better to ensure that the formalities are complied with!