Mirror Will Signed By Wrong Spouse

A mirror will that is mistakenly executed by the testator's spouse will not be retrospectively rectified following the decision in Marley v Rawlings (2011 EWHC 161 Ch).

Mr and Mrs Rawlings had identical wills prepared by their solicitor in which each left everything to the other. On the death of the survivor, the wills provided for everything to pass to Terry Marley, who they had treated as their son. However, an error in the execution of the wills whereby Mr and Mrs Rawlings each signed the will of the other spouse, was not picked up at the time and resulted in the combined estate passing to their two natural sons, under the intestacy rules. Mr and Mrs Rawlings had not mentioned their two natural sons in the wills and clearly did not intend them to benefit.

Mr Marley brought an action to challenge the outcome on two grounds. One was that the wills were properly executed in accordance with s.9 of the Wills Act 1837, insofar as the testator intended his signature to give effect to the will he signed. However, Mrs Justice Proudman rejected this argument stating that if asked whether he had intended this he would have responded 'no, of course not, that is my wife's will'.

The second ground for the challenge was based on s.20 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982. This section allows the Court to rectify mistakes in wills and Mr...