Wills Act 1837
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| Long title | An Act for the Amendment of the Laws with respect to Wills. |
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| Citation | 1 Vict. c 26 |
| Introduced by | Attorney General Sir John Campbell |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales, Northern Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 3 July 1837 |
| Commencement | 1 January 1838 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by |
Family Law Reform Act 1969 Administration of Justice Act 1982 Family Law Act 1986 Law Reform (Succession) Act 1995 |
| Relates to | Wills (Soldiers and Sailors) Act 1918 |
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Status: Amended
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| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
| Wills (Soldiers and Sailors) Act 1918 | |
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| Long title | An Act to amend the Law with respect to Testamentary Dispositions by Soldiers and Sailors. |
| Citation | 7 & 8 Geo. 5, c. 58 |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales, Northern Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 6 February 1918 |
| Commencement | 6 February 1918 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | Family Law Reform Act 1969 |
| Relates to | Wills Act 1837 |
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Status: Current legislation
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| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Wills Act 1837 (1 Vict. c 26) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that confirms the power of every adult to dispose of their real and personal property, whether they are the outright owner or a beneficiary under a trust, by will on their death (s.3). The act extends to all testamentary dispositions or gifts, where "a person makes a disposition of his property to take effect after his decease, and which is in its own nature ambulatory and revocable during his life." As of 2012[update], much of it remains in force in England and Wales.
Under ecclesiastical law, common law and equity, various customary rules had long existed for disposing of personal property by will. However, the power to gift real property by will had been first granted by the Statute of Wills (1540). Various rules grew up around the formalities necessary to create a valid will and the Statute of Frauds (1677) created the requirement that a will of real property must be in writing. By the early nineteenth century, the rules had become complex, with different rules for formalising wills of real and personal property. The 4th report of the Commissioners for Inquiring into the Law of Real Property recommended a simplified and unified scheme. As the Commissioners observed "Any scrap of paper, or memorandum in ink or in pencil, mentioning an intended disposition of his property, is admitted as a will and will be valid, although written by another person, and not read over to the testator, or even seen by him, if proved to be made in his lifetime according to his instructions." A bill was introduced by the Attorney General Sir John Campbell, one of the Commissioners, in 1834 though it was much delayed for want of parliamentary time. The bill was introduced in the House of Lords by Lord Langdale.
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