The Boundaries of the Sector
- The dispute before me raises many questions and complex questions. Did the deceased have rights to the property and had the power to bequeath it? Did she inherit her rights from her late husband or did she acquire rights by virtue of her being his wife? Did her late husband have rights in the property and had the power to bequeath it to someone, even though he was not and was never registered as the owner of the rights? Is it possible to distinguish between the two parts of the property and see it as two separate apartments?
- These questions therefore relate to the question of the extent of the deceased's estate, and whether the property or parts thereof should be regarded as part of her estate. The questions are not clarified before me, and the issue of the judgment in this case is the validity of the pair of wills left by the deceased, and whether they or one of them should be invalidated due to defects in the deceased's will or because one of them is later than the previous one. I will note that the lion's share of the arguments of both parties relate to the question of the scope of the estate, while the parties devoted a few general arguments to the question of the validity of the wills.
- I will reiterate that the question of the scope of the estate and the status of the property is clarified in the District Court in the framework of bankruptcy proceedings that were opened during the life of the deceased as aforesaid. The District Court has suspended the clarification of the proceeding before it until I decide on the validity of the wills, and will continue to sit on the issue after this judgment is rendered.
- In the judgment of the Lord, first of all, the validity of the later will. To the extent that it is valid, it ostensibly overrides the prior will, and the need to clarify the validity of the prior will may or may not be superfluous. If the late will is to be invalidated, there will be room to examine the validity of the earlier will as well.
On the merits of the matter - the late will