Solicitor's Duty of Care

• Author: Mary L. MacGregor
• Pages: 95-108



SolicitorsDutyofCare

Mary L. MacGregor*

A INTRODUCTION

Awillisinvalidatedonawil lchallengeThelawyerwhomadethewill

couldnotsubstantiatethecl ientscapacitytomaketh iswillduetoneg-

ligenceandbreachofhisdutyofcareThedisappointedbeneciariesare

robbedoftheevidencetheyneedtosubstantiatecapacityandtherefore

thewillwhichmightwellhavebeenvalidfail s

Thispaperisnotanextensiveexaminationofthelawrelatingtotes-

tamentarycapacityNeverthelessitisbasictotheu nderstandingofthe

lawyersdutyofcare becausethe lawyerwill beliableto disappointed

beneciariesift helawyersbreachofhisdutyhascaused thewilltobe

declaredi nvalidwhenthe lawyersneglectdeprivest heproponentsof

the will ofthe evidence which mighthave provedcapacityT heonus

willbeonthelawyertoshowhi sneglectwasnotthecauseofthebene-

ciaryslossThisisaverydicultdutytobedischa rged

B TESTAMENTARYCAPACITY

Numerouscaseshavedealt withthequestion oftestamentarycapacity

Ithasoenbeenrepeatedthatatestatormusthaveasoundanddispos-

ingmindtoma kea validwill Adis cussionof thecase sfollowsbut

 MsMacGregorisapartn eratDicksonMacGregorAppellLLP