Court Procedures Rules 2006

This rule applies if a person applies for grant of probate or administration of a will.

If it appears to the court that the will has been attested in the way required by law, the court may accept the attestation as evidence of the proper making of the will.

If there is no attestation clause or the attestation clause does not show how the will was made, the applicant must file an affidavit made by a witness who attested the will stating how the will was made.

However, if it is not practicable to comply with subrule (3) because, for example, the witnesses who attested the will are dead, the applicant must file an affidavit made by someone else present when the will was made and stating how the will was made.

If it is not practicable for the applicant to comply with subrule (4) because, for example, no-one else was present when the will was made, the applicant must file an affidavit stating why it is not practicable and, if possible, giving evidence of the handwriting of the witnesses.

The applicant must also state in the affidavit anything else relevant about the making of the will.