A solicitor's duty to a disappointed beneficiary under a proposed will is circumscribed by the terms of the retainer with the client. A retainer to prepare a formal will according to an agreed timeframe does not extend to procuring the signing of an informal will unless the solicitor is or should be aware of a reasonably foreseeable risk that the client may die or lose testamentary capacity before the formal will can be executed. Advanced age alone, without evidence of impending death or cognitive decline, does not establish such a risk over a period of approximately two weeks.
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