The Court pronounced the force and validity of a will dated 13 April 2018 in solemn form on an undefended basis, after the defendants withdrew their defence and counterclaim following mediation and filed a notice of intention to abide. The Court applied the established framework from Allen v Quinn and Wheatley v Edgar, confirming that even where a compromise is reached in a contested solemn form action, sufficient evidence of due execution must be adduced, and that where due execution is established the presumptions of testamentary capacity, testamentary intention, and knowledge and approval arise and need not be independently proved absent circumstances displacing them. The Court was satisfied on the evidence that the presumption of due execution arose from the attestation clause and witness signatures notwithstanding both attesting witnesses were deceased.
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