Faculty and Cambridge Family Law (CFL) member Dr Brian Sloan has been serving on the advisory group for the Law Commission's project to modernise wills.
On 16 May the Commission published its recommendations to reform the law of wills in its report 'Modernising Wills Law'. The reforms proposed will modernise the law governing wills to ensure it is fit for purpose in the modern age.
The law governing wills largely dates from the Victorian era. It has not been comprehensively reviewed for nearly 200 years, and the Commission's report makes recommendations to clarify the law and to ensure it is fit for purpose in the modern age.
The Commission's recommendations for reform are aimed primarily at supporting testamentary freedom, protecting testators (including from undue influence and fraud), and increasing clarity and certainty in the law where possible. The final report is accompanied by a draft Bill for a modern Wills Act, to replace the Wills Act 1837.
Dr Sloan is cited extensively in the report, including his works: B Sloan, Borkowski’s Law of Succession (4th ed 2020), B Sloan, "Testing times for attestation: Payne v Payne" [2019] Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 182, S Hudson and B Sloan, 'Testamentary Freedom: Mutual Wills Might Let You Down' in Modern Studies in Property Law: Volume 8, ed W Barr (2015), B Sloan, "DMC of registered land? That’s the way it is" (2024) 83 Cambridge Law Journal 421, and B Sloan, "Forfeiture and the effect of the Wills Act 1837 s 33A" [2021] 1 Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 33.
The report has been laid before Parliament along with a draft bill. It will now be for the Government to decide whether to implement the recommendations.