Resources
Guides to capacity, wills and lasting powers of attorney, and how we work with charities and professionals.
Testamentary capacity
Testamentary capacity means whether you knew what you were doing when you made your will. If you did, your will is valid. If you did not, it is not.
- What is testamentary capacity?What the term means, why a will fails without it, and who has to prove it.
- The Golden RuleThe best practice set out in Re Simpson for a will made by an aged or seriously ill person.
- Executing your willSigning in front of two witnesses, and the formalities that make a will valid.
Mental capacity
Capacity is decision by decision. Someone can have enough to make one decision and not another, and it can come and go. These two guides cover the legal test, and what to do when you are worried about it.
Lasting powers of attorney
A lasting power of attorney lets you choose who makes decisions for you if you cannot make them yourself. You have to make one while you still have the capacity to do it.
Capacity Snapshot
A Capacity Snapshot is a recorded account of your capacity, taken at the time you make your will. It is there to answer the question later, when you cannot answer it yourself.
Work with us
We work with charities that receive gifts in wills, and with the solicitors, will writers and doctors who advise the people making them.
For charities
- Charities: work with usGifts in wills are the largest gift most supporters ever make. Here is how we help you protect them.
- Protecting your supportersHow your supporters can show their capacity at the time they make their will.
- Our will writing partnersThe solicitors and will writers we work alongside to record a testator’s capacity.
For professionals
- For professionalsYour clients can create a Capacity Snapshot at any hour and get their score within two working days.
- For solicitorsProtecting your clients protects your practice. How we cut the risk of a claim.
- For will writersHow we work with professional will writers, and what it adds to your service.
- For medical professionalsA guide for doctors asked to assess a testator is being written and will appear here.