Wills - Additional Guidance

Guidance / Checklist of Points to Check When Registering a Will in the Books of Council and Session.

• Scottish wills need to be signed on each sheet.
  • A single sheet of paper which is folded into four pages need only be signed once and countersigned by one witness. If the will is registered in the Books of Council and Session and an extract of a four page deed is issued, it is not possible to tell if it was on one sheet of paper or not. For this reason, registration officers in the Books of Council and Session add a certificate to extracts of these deeds certifying that they are on a single page.
    
    
• Please check that the signature is the same throughout the will. If you find a discrepancy, please refer to the referral officer or the CAJR Team Leader. It may be necessary to call the agent to ask if they are aware of the discrepancy.
  
  
• When checking a will, look for a date of signing as this helps to determine if it has been appropriately witnessed.
  
  
• Wills need two witnesses before the appointed day of Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995, being 1 August 1995.
  
  
• Witnesses before this date usually have an occupation and don't need to be named but do require an address.
  
  
• If a solicitor has witnessed the will then you only need a town not a full witnesses address: however you do need the witnesses occupation to be narrated as a solicitor to allow you to discern this.
  
  
• If a will has a schedule, please pass on to the RO2s as schedules that form part of the original will should be signed on each page but there can be exceptions to this rule.
  
  
• Please check that other deeds have not been annexed to wills (e.g. codicils, letters of wishes, statements of wishes etc). If these are not referred to in the letter, please pass on to an RO2 so they can consider it.
  
  
• Gatefold wills not signed on each page require a will certificate - see RO2s.
  
  
• Wills from furth of Scotland - if they do not comply with Scots Law then they require a letter saying that they comply with the law of the country they originate from. This is treated like a will certificate.