- Statute of Wills
Infobox UK Legislation
short_title=Statute of Wills
parliament=Parliament of England
long_title=The Act of Wills, Wards, and Primer Seisins, whereby a Man may devise Two Parts of his Land.
statute_book_chapter=Hen. 8 32, c.1
introduced_by=
territorial_extent=England and Wales
royal_assent=1540
commencement=1540
repeal_date=1 January 1838
amendments=—
related_legislation=Statute of Uses
repealing_legislation=Wills Act 1837 , s.2
status=Repealed
original_text=
activeTextDocId=
legislation_history=
|The Statute of Wills (32 Hen. 8, c. 1 - enacted in1540 ) was an Act of theParliament of England . It made it possible, for the first time in English history, for landholders to determine who would inherit their land upon theirdeath , by permittingbequest by will. Prior to the enactment of this statute, land could only be passed by descent, if and when the landholder had competent living relatives who survived him, and was subject to the harsh rules ofprimogeniture . When a landholder died without any living relatives, his land wouldescheat tothe Crown . The statute was something of a political compromise between Henry VIII and English landowners, who were growing increasingly frustrated with primogeniture and royal control of land.The Statute of Wills created a number of requirements for the form of a will, many of which,
as of 2008 , survive incommon law jurisdiction s. Specifically, most jurisdictions still require that a will must be in writing, signed by thetestator , the person making the will, and witnessed by at least two other persons.Fact|date=March 2008In
England and Wales , the Statute of Wills wasrepeal ed and superseded by theWills Act 1837 .References
*Dukeminier, Jesse and Krier, James E. "Property, Fifth Edition", pp. 284, 637. Aspen Publishers, 2002. ISBN 0-7355-2437-8
Related Links
*
Statute of Uses
*Cestui que External links
* [http://law.jrank.org/pages/10505/Statute-Wills.html Thomson-Gale legal encyclopedia entry, courtesy of Jrank]
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