And, yes, a will must always be witnessed and it would be good practice ( but no legal obligation ) to have someone keep a copy.
mf
Does this copy have an equal standing as the original?
The copy is a copy of a destroyed will. It has no legal standing. So- is there a revocation clause in the destroyed will? If yes, there is no will and the deceased died intestate. Or no? Then it may be that the earlier will has not been revoked.
My mother tried to have the photo copy of the newer will entered for probate but this was refused. She went to the high court to appeal and lost her case. Her sister's estate was then divided among various relatives. My father who was the named executor on the photocopy continued acting the executor role and traced down as many relatives as he could find thus diluting my mother's share of the eventual proceeds.
At this stage nobody knew about the earlier will that existed that I have now discovered going through old papers.
As far as I can make out the earlier will left all of the estate to another brother who had died earlier.
So am I right in saying that my mother would have inherited the estate as the next of kin anyhow if the original will had been allowed to stand?
It would have been helpful if you had recounted all this at the start.
My mother tried to have the photo copy of the newer will entered for probate but this was refused. She went to the high court to appeal and lost her case.
So am I right in saying that my mother would have inherited the estate as the next of kin anyhow if the original will had been allowed to stand?
You've completely changed the story.
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