Williams on Wills: 11th edition published
15th Dec 2021
Chambers is delighted to announce the publication of the 11th edition of Williams on Wills.
Williams on Wills, published by LexisNexis, has long been recognised as the leading text on wills. Considered the definitive practitioner textbook, the new edition has been fully revised and updated for 2022. The 11th edition was edited by Francis Barlow KC, Susannah Meadway, James MacDougald, James Kirby and Richard Wallington (a former member of Chambers).
As always, the title consists of two volumes. The first volume narrative has been refreshed and updated to cover developments since the last supplement to the 10th edition was published in October 2018. Principal among those developments has been the Wills Act 1837 (Electronic Communications) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Order 2020, which came into force on 28 September 2020. The legislation, which amends section 9 of the 1837 Act, permits a testator’s signature to be witnessed by video conference but applies only to wills made between 31 January 2020 and 31 January 2022. Whether the law formerly permitted wills to be witnessed ‘remotely’ was a sometime topic of debate, and the debate will likely continue unless the current amendment is given permanent effect.
The second volume comprises an extensive collection of gold-standard precedents. This new edition sees a shift to plainer language (‘gifts’ replace ‘bequests’ and ‘devises’, for example), where this can be done without loss of meaning. There are also new forms for trustees’ remuneration, tailored in response to the judgment in Da Silva v Heselton (2021), handed down days before the title went to print, and for the remote attestation of wills.
Francis Barlow KC – (1938 – 2023)
Susannah Meadway
Call 1988
James Kirby
Call 2017
James MacDougald
Call 2011
