Cap 30 - WILLS ORDINANCE 1

Chapter: 30 WILLS ORDINANCE Gazette Number Version Date

Long title 30/06/1997


To consolidate and amend the law relating to wills.


[13 March 1970]

(Originally 32 of 1970)

Part: I PRELIMINARY 30/06/1997




Section: 1 Short title 30/06/1997


This Ordinance may be cited as the Wills Ordinance.

Section: 2 Interpretation 30/06/1997


In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires-
"disposition" (處置) means any devise, bequest, gift or appointment, or the giving of any estate or interest;
"internal law" (本土法律) in relation to any territory or state means the law which would apply in a case where no

operation of the law in force in any other territory or state arose; [cf. 1963 c. 44 s. 6(1) U.K.]
"personal representative" (遺產代理人) means the executor, original or by representation, or administrator for the

time being of a deceased person; [cf. 1925 c. 23 s. 53 U.K.]
"property" (財產) includes all property both real and personal;
"sign" (簽署) includes the affixing or making of a seal, mark, thumbprint or chop; (Added 56 of 1995 s. 2)
"state" (國家) means a territory or group of territories having its own law of nationality; [cf. 1963 c. 44 s. 6(1) U.K.]
"will" (遺囑) includes a codicil and any other testamentary instrument or act, and "testator" (立遺囑人) shall be

construed accordingly. [cf. 1963 c. 44 s. 6(1) U.K.]

Part: II WILLS 30/06/1997




Section: 3 All property may be disposed of by will 30/06/1997


A person may by will, executed in accordance with this Ordinance, dispose of all property to which he is
beneficially entitled at the time of his death and which on his death devolves on his personal representatives.

(Replaced 56 of 1995 s. 3)
[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 3 U.K.]


Section: 4 Wills of persons not of full age 30/06/1997


(1) Subject to subsection (2), no will made by a person who has not attained full age shall be valid.
(2) A married person, a person in actual naval, military or air force service, and a mariner or seaman at sea,

may make a valid will and may validly revoke a will even though he has not attained full age.
[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 7 U.K.; 1918 c. 58 U.K.]

(3) For the purpose of this section, "married person" (已婚者) means a party to a marriage within the meaning
of the Married Persons Status Ordinance (Cap 182).

(Replaced 56 of 1995 s. 3)




Cap 30 - WILLS ORDINANCE 2

Section: 5 Signing and witnessing of a will 30/06/1997


(1) Subject to sections 6 and *[23D], no will shall be valid unless-
(a) it is in writing, and signed by the testator, or by some other person in his presence and by his direction;
(b) it appears that the testator intended by his signature to give effect to the will;
(c) the signature is made or acknowledged by the testator in the presence of 2 or more witnesses present at

the same time; and
(d) each witness either-

(i) attests and signs the will; or
(ii) acknowledges his signature,
in the presence of the testator (but not necessarily in the presence of any other witness),

but no form of attestation shall be necessary. [cf. 1982 c. 53 s. 17 U.K.]
(2) A document purporting to embody the testamentary intentions of a deceased person shall, notwithstanding

that it has not been executed in accordance with the requirements under subsection (1), be deemed to be duly executed
if, upon application, the court is satisfied that there can be no reasonable doubt that the document embodies the
testamentary intentions of the deceased person.

(Replaced 56 of 1995 s. 3)
______________________________________________________________________________
Note:
* Section 23D has not yet come into operation. See section 8 of the Wills (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (56 of

1995).

Section: 6 Privileged wills 30/06/1997


Any person in actual naval, military or air force service, and any mariner or seaman at sea may by will-
(a) dispose of any of his property;
(b) exercise any power of appointment; or
(c) appoint a person as guardian of his infant children, without complying with section 5(1).

(Replaced 56 of 1995 s. 3)
[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 11 U.K.; 1918 c. 58 U.K.]


Section: 7 Appointment by will 30/06/1997


(1) No appointment made by will, in exercise of any power, shall be valid unless it is executed in accordance
with section 5.

(2) Every will so executed shall, so far as concerns its execution and attestation, be a valid execution of a
power of appointment by will, notwithstanding that it has been expressly required that a will made in exercise of such
power shall be executed with some additional or other form of execution or solemnity.

[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 10 U.K.]

Section: 8 Publication of will not necessary 30/06/1997


Every will executed in accordance with section 5 shall be valid without any other publication thereof.
[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 13 U.K.]


Section: 9 Will not void on account of incompetency of witness 30/06/1997


If a person who attests the execution of a will is, at the time of execution or at any time afterwards, incompetent
to be admitted a witness to prove the execution, the will shall not on that account be invalid.

[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 14 U.K.]

Section: 10 Avoidance of gifts to attesting witnesses and their spouses 30/06/1997


(1) If a person attests the execution of a will, and any disposition of or affecting any property (other than
charges and directions for the payment of any debt) is given or made by the will to that person or his spouse, that



Cap 30 - WILLS ORDINANCE 3

disposition shall, so far only as concerns the person attesting the execution of the will, or the spouse of that person, or
any person claiming under that person or spouse, be void.

(2) The person so attesting shall be admitted as a witness to prove the execution of the will, or to prove the
validity or invalidity thereof, notwithstanding such disposition.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section the attestation of a will by a person to whom or to whose
spouse there is given or made any such disposition as is described in that subsection shall be disregarded if the will is
duly executed without his attestation and without that of any other such person. [cf. 1968 c. 28 s. 1 U.K.]

[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 15 U.K.]

Section: 11 Creditor attesting will charging estate with debts

admissible as witness
30/06/1997



If by will any property is charged with any debt and a creditor, or the spouse of a creditor, whose debt is so
charged, attests the execution of the will, the creditor, notwithstanding such charge, shall be admitted a witness to
prove the execution of the will, or to prove the validity or invalidity thereof.

[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 16 U.K.]

Section: 12 Executor admissible as witness 30/06/1997


A person shall not, by reason only of his being an executor of a will, be incompetent to be admitted a witness to
prove the execution of such will, or a witness to prove the validity or invalidity thereof.

[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 17 U.K.]

Section: 13 Modes of revocation of will 30/06/1997


(1) No will or part of a will shall be revoked otherwise than-
(a) by marriage as provided by section 14;
(b) by another valid will;
(c) by a written revocation executed in a manner in which the testator could validly execute a will; or
(d) by the burning, tearing or otherwise destroying of it by the testator, or by some person in his presence

and by his direction, with the intention of revoking it.
(2) No will shall be revoked by any presumption of an intention on the ground of an alteration in

circumstances.
(Replaced 56 of 1995 s. 4)

[cf. 1837 c. 26 ss. 19 & 20 U.K.]

Section: 14 Will to be revoked by marriage, except in certain cases 30/06/1997


(1) Subject to subsections (2), (3) and (4), a will shall be revoked by the testator's marriage.
(2) A disposition in a will in exercise of a power of appointment shall take effect notwithstanding the testator's

subsequent marriage unless the property so appointed would in default of appointment pass to his personal
representatives.

(3) Where it appears from a will that at the time it was made the testator was expecting to be married to a
particular person and that he intended that the will should not be revoked by the marriage, the will shall not be
revoked by his marriage to that person.

(4) Where it appears from a will that at the time it was made the testator was expecting to be married to a
particular person and that he intended that a disposition in the will should not be revoked by his marriage to that
person-

(a) that disposition shall take effect notwithstanding the marriage; and
(b) any other disposition in the will shall take effect also, unless it appears from the will that the testator

intended the disposition to be revoked by the marriage.
(5) In this section, "marriage" (婚姻) has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Married Persons Status

Ordinance (Cap 182).
(Replaced 56 of 1995 s. 4)



Cap 30 - WILLS ORDINANCE 4

[cf. 1982 c. 53 s. 18 U.K.]

Section: 15 Effect of dissolution or annulment of marriage 30/06/1997


(1) Where, after a testator has made a will, his marriage is validly dissolved, annulled or declared void-
(a) the will shall take effect as if any appointment of the former spouse as an executor or as the executor

and trustee of the will were omitted; and
(b) any devise or bequest to the former spouse shall lapse, except in so far as a contrary intention appears

from the will.
(2) Subsection (1)(b) is without prejudice to any right of the former spouse to apply for provision for

maintenance under the Matrimonial Causes Ordinance (Cap 179).
(3) Where-

(a) by the terms of a will an interest in remainder is subject to a life interest; and
(b) the life interest lapses by virtue of subsection (1)(b),

the interest in remainder shall be treated as if it had not been subject to the life interest and, if it was contingent upon
the termination of the life interest, as if it had not been so contingent.

(Replaced 56 of 1995 s. 4)
[cf. 1982 c. 53 s. 18A U.K.]


Section: 16 Alterations in will after execution 30/06/1997


(1) No obliteration, interlineation, or other alteration made in a will after execution shall be valid or have any
effect, except so far as the words or effect of the will before such alteration are not apparent, unless such alteration is
executed by the testator in a manner in which he could validly execute a will at the time such alteration was made.
(Amended 56 of 1995 s. 5)

(1A) For the purpose of subsection (1), the words or effect of a will are apparent if they can be discovered by any
means. (Added 56 of 1995 s. 5)

(2) The will, with such alteration as part thereof, shall be deemed to be duly executed if the signature of the
testator, and the signature of each witness if any is required, is made-

(a) in the margin or on some other part of the will opposite or near to such alteration; or
(b) at the foot or end of or opposite to a memorandum referring to such alteration and written at the end or

some other part of the will.
[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 21 U.K.]


Section: 17 Revoked will not revived otherwise than by re-execution or

codicil
30/06/1997



(1) No will or any part thereof, which is in any manner revoked, shall be revived otherwise than by the re-
execution thereof or by a codicil executed in accordance with section 5 and showing an intention to revive it.

(2) When any will which is partly revoked, and afterwards wholly revoked, is revived, such revival shall not
extend to so much thereof as was revoked before the revocation of the whole thereof, unless an intention to the
contrary is shown.

[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 22 U.K.]

Section: 18 Subsequent conveyance or other act not to prevent

operation of will
30/06/1997



No conveyance or other act made or done subsequently to the execution of a will of or relating to any property
comprised therein, except an act by which the will is revoked in accordance with section 13(1), shall prevent the
operation of the will with respect to any estate or interest in such property which the testator has power to dispose of
by will at the time of his death.

(Amended 56 of 1995 s. 6)
[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 23 U.K.]





Cap 30 - WILLS ORDINANCE 5

Section: 19 Will to speak from death of testator 30/06/1997


Every will shall, with reference to the property comprised in it, be construed to speak and take effect as if it had
been executed immediately before the death of the testator, unless a contrary intention appears from the will.

[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 24 U.K.]

Section: 20 General disposition of land to include leasehold 30/06/1997


A general disposition of land shall be construed to include leasehold interests, unless a contrary intention
appears from the will.

[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 26 U.K.]

Section: 21 General disposition of property to include property over

which testator has a general power of appointment
30/06/1997



A general disposition of property shall be construed to include any property which the testator may have power
to appoint in any manner he may think proper and shall operate as
an execution of such power, unless a contrary intention appears from the will.

[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 27 U.K.]

Section: 22 Meaning of "die without issue" etc. 30/06/1997


In a disposition of property, the words "die without issue" (死後無嗣), or "die without having issue" (死後無
遺下後嗣), or "have no issue" (無嗣), or any other words which may import either a want or failure of issue of any
person in his lifetime or at the time of his death, or an indefinite failure of his issue, shall be construed to mean a want
or failure of issue in his lifetime or at the time of his death, and not an indefinite failure of issue unless a contrary
intention appears from the will.

[cf. 1837 c. 26 s. 29 U.K.]

Section: 23 Gifts to children or other issue who leave issue living at the

testator's death
30/06/1997



(1) Where-
(a) a will contains a devise or bequest to a child or remoter descendant of the testator; and
(b) the intended beneficiary dies before the testator, leaving issue; and
(c) issue of the intended beneficiary are living at the testator's death,

then, unless a contrary intention appears from the will, the devise or bequest shall take effect as a devise or bequest to
the issue living at the testator's death.

(2) Where-
(a) a will contains a devise or bequest to a class of persons consisting of children or remoter descendants

of the testator; and
(b) a member of the class dies before the testator, leaving issue; and
(c) issue of that member are living at the testator's death,

then, unless a contrary intention appears from the will, the devise or bequest shall take effect as if the class included
the issue of its deceased member living at the testator's death.

(3) Issue shall take under this section through all degrees, according to their stock, in equal shares if more than
one, any gift or share which their parent would have taken and so that no issue shall take whose parent is living at the
testator's death and so capable of taking.

(4) For the purposes of this section a person conceived before the testator's death and born living thereafter is to
be taken to have been living at the testator's death.

(Replaced 56 of 1995 s. 7)
[cf. 1982 c. 53 s. 19 U.K.]





Cap 30 - WILLS ORDINANCE 6

Section: 23A Rectification 30/06/1997


(1) If a court is satisfied that a will is so expressed that it fails to carry out the testator's intentions, in
consequence-

(a) of a clerical error; or
(b) of a failure to understand his instructions,

it may order that the will shall be rectified so as to carry out his intentions.
(2) An application for an order under this section shall not, except with the permission of the court, be made

after the end of the period of 6 months from the date on which representation with respect to the estate of the deceased
is first taken out.

(3) The provisions of this section shall not render the personal representatives of a deceased person liable for
having distributed any part of the estate of the deceased, after the end of the period of 6 months from the date on
which representation with respect to the estate of the deceased is first taken out, on the ground that they ought to have
taken into account the possibility that the court might permit the making of an application for an order under this
section after the end of that period; but this subsection shall not prejudice any power to recover, by reason of the
making of an order under this section, any part of the estate so distributed.

(4) In considering for the purposes of this section when representation with respect to the estate of a deceased
person was first taken out, a grant limited to part only of the estate shall be left out of account unless a grant limited to
the remainder of the estate has previously been made or is made at the same time.

(Added 56 of 1995 s. 8)
[cf. 1982 c. 53 s. 20 U.K.]


Section: 23B Interpretation of wills - general provisions as to evidence 30/06/1997


(1) This section applies to a will-
(a) in so far as any part of it is meaningless;
(b) in so far as the language used in any part of it is ambiguous on the face of it;
(c) in so far as evidence, other than evidence of the testator's intention, shows that the language used in

any part of it is ambiguous in the light of surrounding circumstances.
(2) In so far as this section applies to a will extrinsic evidence, including evidence of the testator's intention,

may be admitted to assist in its interpretation.
(Added 56 of 1995 s. 8)

[cf. 1982 c. 53 s. 21 U.K.]

Section: 23C Presumption as to effect of gifts to donees 30/06/1997


If a testator devises or bequeaths property to a donee in terms which in themselves would give an absolute
interest to the donee, but by the same instrument purports to give any other person an interest in the same property, it
shall, unless a contrary intention is shown, be presumed that the gift to the donee is absolute notwithstanding the
purported gift to the other person.

(Added 56 of 1995 s. 8)
[cf. 1982 c. 53 s. 22 U.K.]


Part: IIA INTERNATIONAL WILLS


Remarks:
Not yet in operation


(Part IIA added 56 of 1995 s. 8)

Section: 23D Form of international will


Remarks:
Not yet in operation



Cap 30 - WILLS ORDINANCE 7


(1) The Annex to the Convention on International Wills shall have the force of law in Hong Kong.
(2) The Annex is set out in the Schedule.
(3) In this Part-

"the Convention on International Wills" (國際遺囑公約) means the Convention providing a Uniform Law on the
Form of an International Will concluded at Washington on 26 October 1973;

"international will" (國際遺囑) means a will made in accordance with the requirements of the Annex, as set out in
the Schedule.

[cf. 1982 c. 53 s. 27 U.K.]

Section: 23E Procedure


Remarks:
Not yet in operation


(1) The persons authorized to act in Hong Kong in connection with international wills are-
(a) solicitors; and
(b) notaries public duly registered under section 40 of the Legal Practitioners Ordinance (Cap 159).

(2) A person who is authorized under section 6(1) of the Commissioners for Oaths Act 1889 (1889 c. 10 U.K.)
to do notarial acts in any foreign country or place is authorized to act there in connection with international wills.

[cf. 1982 c. 53 s. 28 U.K.]

Part: III CONFLICT OF LAWS RELATING TO

TESTAMENTARY DISPOSITIONS
30/06/1997





Section: 24 General rule as to formal validity 30/06/1997


A will shall be treated as properly executed if its execution conformed to the internal law in force in the territory
where it was executed, or in the territory where, at the time of its execution or of the testator's death, he was domiciled
or had his habitual residence, or in a state of which, at either of those times, he was a national.

[cf. 1963 c. 44 s. 1 U.K.]

Section: 25 Additional rules 30/06/1997


(1) Without prejudice to section 24, the following shall be treated as properly executed-
(a) a will executed on board a vessel or aircraft of any description, if the execution of the will conformed

to the internal law in force in the territory with which, having regard to its registration (if any) and
other relevant circumstances the vessel or aircraft may be taken to have been most closely connected;

(b) a will so far as it disposes of immovable property, if its execution conformed to the internal law in
force in the territory where the property was situated;

(c) a will so far as it revokes a will which under this Part would be treated as properly executed or revokes
a provision which under this Part would be treated as comprised in a properly executed will, if the
execution of the later will conformed to any law by reference to which the revoked will or provision
would be so treated;

(d) a will so far as it exercises a power of appointment, if the execution of the will conformed to the law
governing the essential validity of the power.

(2) A will so far as it exercises a power of appointment shall not be treated as improperly executed by reason
only that its execution was not in accordance with any formal requirements contained in the instrument creating the
power.

[cf. 1963 c. 44 s. 2 U.K.]




Cap 30 - WILLS ORDINANCE 8

Section: 26 Certain requirements to be treated as formal 30/06/1997


Where (whether in pursuance of this Part or not) a law in force outside Hong Kong falls to be applied in relation
to a will, any requirement of that law whereby special formalities are to be observed by testators answering a
particular description or witnesses to the execution of a will are to possess certain qualifications, shall be treated,
notwithstanding any rule of that law to the contrary, as a formal requirement only.

[cf. 1963 c. 44 s. 3 U.K.]

Section: 27 Construction of wills 30/06/1997


The construction of a will shall not be altered by reason of any change in the testator's domicile after the
execution of the will.

[cf. 1963 c. 44 s. 4 U.K.]

Section: 28 Application where two or more systems of law in force in

territory or state
30/06/1997



Where under this Part the internal law in force in any territory or state is to be applied in the case of a will, but
there are in force in that territory or state two or more systems of internal law relating to the formal validity of wills,
the system to be applied shall be ascertained as follows-

(a) if there is in force throughout the territory or state a rule indicating which of those systems can
properly be applied in the case in question, that rule shall be followed; or

(b) if there is no such rule, the system shall be that with which the testator was most closely connected at
the relevant time, and for this purpose the relevant time is the time of the testator's death where the
matter is to be determined by reference to circumstances prevailing at his death, and the time of
execution of the will in any other case.

[cf. 1963 c. 44 s. 6(2) U.K.]

Section: 29 Determination of conformity of execution of will to

particular law
30/06/1997



In determining for the purposes of this Part whether or not the execution of a will conformed to a particular law,
regard shall be had to the formal requirements of that law at the time of execution, but this shall not prevent account
being taken of an alteration of law affecting wills executed at that time if the alteration enables the will to be treated as
properly executed.

[cf. 1963 c. 44 s. 6(3) U.K.]

Part: IV APPLICATION 30/06/1997




Section: 30 Application 67 of 1999 01/07/1997


Remarks:
Adaptation amendments retroactively made - see 67 of 1999 s. 3


(1) This Ordinance shall not apply to a will of a testator who died before the commencement of this Ordinance
and shall apply to a will of a testator who dies after its commencement whether the will was executed before or after
its commencement, but so that a will which was executed before its commencement and which, but for the provisions
of this Ordinance, would be valid shall not thereby be invalidated.

(2) The validity of a will which was valid under section 3 of the repealed Wills Ordinance (Cap 30 1964 Ed.)
shall not be affected by any thing in Part III, except insofar as the will may be revoked or altered by any subsequent
will valid under this Ordinance.

(3) Without prejudice to the general application of section 23 of the Interpretation and General Clauses
Ordinance (Cap 1)-



Cap 30 - WILLS ORDINANCE 9

(a) the repealed Wills Ordinance (Cap 30 1964 Ed.),
(b) the repealed Wills (Formal Validity) Ordinance (Cap 350 1964 Ed.), and
(c) the deleted item 66 of the Schedule to the non-adopted Application of English Law Ordinance (Cap

88), (Amended 67 of 1999 s. 3)
shall continue to apply to the will of any person dying before the commencement of this Ordinance, as if this
Ordinance had not been passed.

(4) The amendments to this Ordinance effected by the Wills (Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (56 of 1995) shall
not apply to a will of a testator who died before the commencement of that Ordinance but, subject to subsection (5),
shall apply to a will of a testator who dies after that commencement whether the will was made before or after that
commencement, but so that a will that was made before that commencement and that, but for the provisions of that
Ordinance, would be valid shall not thereby be invalidated. (Added 56 of 1995 s. 9)

(5) The effect of the marriage of a testator on a will made by him before the commencement of the Wills
(Amendment) Ordinance 1995 (56 of 1995) shall be determined as if that Ordinance had not been enacted. (Added 56
of 1995 s. 9)

Schedule: SCHEDULE


Remarks:
Not yet in operation


[section 23D]


THE ANNEX TO THE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL WILLS


UNIFORM LAW ON THE FORM OF AN INTERNATIONAL WILL


ARTICLE 1


1. A will shall be valid as regards form, irrespective particularly of the place where it is made, of the location
of the assets and of the nationality, domicile or residence of the testator, if it is made in the form of an international
will complying with the provisions set out in Articles 2 to 5 hereinafter.

2. The invalidity of the will as an international will shall not affect its formal validity as a will of another kind.


ARTICLE 2


This law shall not apply to the form of testamentary dispositions made by two or more persons in one
instrument.


ARTICLE 3


1. The will shall be made in writing.
2. It need not be written by the testator himself.
3. It may be written in any language, by hand or by any other means.


ARTICLE 4


1. The testator shall declare in the presence of two witnesses and of a person authorized to act in connection

with international wills that the document is his will and that he knows the contents thereof.
2. The testator need not inform the witnesses, or the authorized person, of the contents of the will.


ARTICLE 5


1. In the presence of the witnesses and of the authorized person, the testator shall sign the will or, if he has

previously signed it, shall acknowledge his signature.
2. When the testator is unable to sign, he shall indicate the reason therefor to the authorized person who shall



Cap 30 - WILLS ORDINANCE 10

make note of this on the will. Moreover, the testator may be authorized by the law under which the authorized person
was designated to direct another person to sign on his behalf.

3. The witnesses and the authorized person shall there and then attest the will by signing in the presence of the
testator.


ARTICLE 6


1. The signatures shall be placed at the end of the will.
2. If the will consists of several sheets, each sheet shall be signed by the testator or, if he is unable to sign, by

the person signing on his behalf or, if there is no such person by the authorized person. In addition, each sheet shall be
numbered.


ARTICLE 7


1. The date of the will shall be the date of its signature by the authorized person.
2. This date shall be noted at the end of the will by the authorized person.


ARTICLE 8


In the absence of any mandatory rule pertaining to the safekeeping of the will, the authorized person shall ask

the testator whether he wishes to make a declaration concerning the safekeeping of his will. If so and at the express
request of the testator the place where he intends to have his will kept shall be mentioned in the certificate provided
for in Article 9.


ARTICLE 9


The authorized person shall attach to the will a certificate in the form prescribed in Article 10 establishing that
the obligations of this law have been complied with.


ARTICLE 10


The certificate drawn up by the authorized person shall be in the following form or in a substantially similar
form-


CERTIFICATE


(Convention of October 26th, 1973)

1. I, .......................................................................... (name, address and capacity), a person authorized to act in

connection with international wills
2. Certify that on .................................................................................................. (date)

at .......................................................................................................................... (place)
3. (testator) ................................................... (name, address, date and place of birth) in my presence and that of the

witnesses
4. (a) ................................................................... (name, address, date and place of birth)

(b) ................................................................... (name, address, date and place of birth) has declared that the
attached document is his will and that he knows the contents thereof.

5. I furthermore certify that:
6. (a) in my presence and in that of the witnesses

(1) the testator has signed the will or has acknowledged his signature previously affixed;
*(2) following a declaration of the testator stating that he was unable to sign his will for the following

reason ...................................................................................
-I have mentioned this declaration on the will

*-the signature has been affixed by ....................................................................
................................................................................................ (name, address)



Cap 30 - WILLS ORDINANCE 11

7. (b) the witnesses and I have signed the will;
8. *(c) each page of the will has been signed by ............................................. and numbered;
9. (d) I have satisfied myself as to the identity of the testator and of the witnesses as designated above;
10. (e) the witnesses met the conditions requisite to act as such according to the law under which I am acting;
11. *(f) the testator has requested me to include the following statement concerning the safekeeping of this

will: ...........................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................

12. PLACE: ........................................................................................................................
13. DATE: .........................................................................................................................
14. SIGNATURE and, if necessary, SEAL
* To be completed if appropriate.


ARTICLE 11


The authorized person shall keep a copy of the certificate and deliver another to the testator.


ARTICLE 12


In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the certificate of the authorized person shall be conclusive of the
formal validity of the instrument as a will under this Law.


ARTICLE 13


The absence or irregularity of a certificate shall not affect the formal validity of a will under this Law.


ARTICLE 14


The international will shall be subject to the ordinary rules of revocation of wills.


ARTICLE 15


In interpreting and applying the provisions of this Law, regard shall be had to its international origin and to the
need for uniformity in its interpretation.

(Schedule added 56 of 1995 s. 10)