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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Western Australia Wills Amendment (International Wills) Bill 2012 CONTENTS 1. Short title 2 2. Commencement 2 3. Act amended 2 4. Section 8 amended 2 5. Part XA inserted 2 Part XA -- International wills 32A. Terms used 2 32B. Application of Convention 3 32C. Persons authorised to act in connection with international wills 3 32D. Witnesses to international wills 4 32E. Application of Act to international wills 4 6. Schedule replaced by Schedule 1 4 269--1 page i Wills Amendment (International Wills) Bill 2012 Contents Schedule 1 -- Annex to Convention providing a Uniform Law on the Form of an International Will 1973 ANNEX UNIFORM LAW ON THE FORM OF AN INTERNATIONAL WILL Article 1 Article 2 Article 3 Article 4 Article 5 Article 6 Article 7 Article 8 Article 9 Article 10 CERTIFICATE Article 11 Article 12 Article 13 Article 14 Article 15 page ii Western Australia LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Wills Amendment (International Wills) Bill 2012 A Bill for An Act to amend the Wills Act 1970. The Parliament of Western Australia enacts as follows: page 1 Wills Amendment (International Wills) Bill 2012 s. 1 1 1. Short title 2 This is the Wills Amendment (International Wills) Act 2012. 3 2. Commencement 4 (1) This Act comes into operation as follows -- 5 (a) sections 1 and 2 -- on the day on which this Act 6 receives the Royal Assent; 7 (b) the rest of the Act -- on a day fixed by proclamation. 8 (2) A proclamation cannot be made under subsection (1)(b) unless 9 the Convention providing a Uniform Law on the Form of an 10 International Will 1973 has entered into force in Australia. 11 3. Act amended 12 This Act amends the Wills Act 1970. 13 4. Section 8 amended 14 In section 8 after "Parts" insert: 15 16 XA, 17 18 5. Part XA inserted 19 After section 31 insert: 20 21 Part XA -- International wills 22 32A. Terms used 23 In this Part -- 24 Australian legal practitioner has the meaning given in 25 the Legal Profession Act 2008 section 3; page 2 Wills Amendment (International Wills) Bill 2012 s. 5 1 Convention means the Convention providing a 2 Uniform Law on the Form of an International 3 Will 1973 signed in Washington, D.C. on 4 26 October 1973; 5 international will means a will made in accordance 6 with the requirements of the Annex to the Convention 7 as set out in Schedule 1; 8 this jurisdiction means Western Australia. 9 32B. Application of Convention 10 The Annex to the Convention has the force of law in 11 this jurisdiction. 12 Note: The Annex to the Convention is set out in Schedule 1. 13 32C. Persons authorised to act in connection with 14 international wills 15 (1) For the purposes of this Part, the following persons are 16 authorised to act in connection with an international 17 will -- 18 (a) an Australian legal practitioner; 19 (b) a public notary of any Australian jurisdiction. 20 (2) For the purposes of this Part, a reference in the Annex 21 to the Convention to a person authorised to act in 22 connection with international wills is a reference to -- 23 (a) a person referred to in subsection (1) who is 24 acting in Australia; or 25 (b) any other person who is acting as an authorised 26 person under the law of a state (other than 27 Australia) that is a party to the Convention. 28 Note: This section gives effect to Articles II and III of the 29 Convention. page 3 Wills Amendment (International Wills) Bill 2012 s. 6 1 32D. Witnesses to international wills 2 The conditions requisite to acting as a witness to an 3 international will are governed by the law of this 4 jurisdiction. 5 Note: See section 11. 6 32E. Application of Act to international wills 7 To avoid doubt, the provisions of this Act that apply to 8 wills extend to international wills. 9 10 6. Schedule replaced by Schedule 1 11 Delete the Schedule and insert: 12 13 Schedule 1 -- Annex to Convention providing a 14 Uniform Law on the Form of an International 15 Will 1973 16 [s. 32A] 17 ANNEX 18 UNIFORM LAW ON THE FORM OF AN 19 INTERNATIONAL WILL 20 Article 1 21 1. A will shall be valid as regards form, irrespective 22 particularly of the place where it is made, of the location of 23 the assets and of the nationality, domicile or residence of the 24 testator, if it is made in the form of an international will 25 complying with the provisions set out in Articles 2 to 5 26 hereinafter. 27 2. The invalidity of the will as an international will shall not 28 affect its formal validity as a will of another kind. page 4 Wills Amendment (International Wills) Bill 2012 s. 6 1 Article 2 2 This law shall not apply to the form of testamentary 3 dispositions made by two or more persons in one 4 instrument. 5 Article 3 6 1. The will shall be made in writing. 7 2. It need not be written by the testator himself. 8 3. It may be written in any language, by hand or by any other 9 means. 10 Article 4 11 1. The testator shall declare in the presence of two witnesses 12 and of a person authorized to act in connection with 13 international wills that the document is his will and that he 14 knows the contents thereof. 15 2. The testator need not inform the witnesses, or the authorized 16 person, of the contents of the will. 17 Article 5 18 1. In the presence of the witnesses and of the authorized 19 person, the testator shall sign the will or, if he has 20 previously signed it, shall acknowledge his signature. 21 2. When the testator is unable to sign, he shall indicate the 22 reason therefor to the authorized person who shall make 23 note of this on the will. Moreover, the testator may be 24 authorized by the law under which the authorized person 25 was designated to direct another person to sign on his 26 behalf. 27 3. The witnesses and the authorized person shall there and then 28 attest the will by signing in the presence of the testator. 29 Article 6 30 1. The signatures shall be placed at the end of the will. page 5 Wills Amendment (International Wills) Bill 2012 s. 6 1 2. If the will consists of several sheets, each sheet shall be 2 signed by the testator or, if he is unable to sign, by the 3 person signing on his behalf or, if there is no such person, 4 by the authorized person. In addition, each sheet shall be 5 numbered. 6 Article 7 7 1. The date of the will shall be the date of its signature by the 8 authorized person. 9 2. This date shall be noted at the end of the will by the 10 authorized person. 11 Article 8 12 In the absence of any mandatory rule pertaining to the 13 safekeeping of the will, the authorized person shall ask the 14 testator whether he wishes to make a declaration concerning 15 the safekeeping of his will. If so and at the express request 16 of the testator the place where he intends to have his will 17 kept shall be mentioned in the certificate provided for in 18 Article 9. 19 Article 9 20 The authorized person shall attach to the will a certificate in 21 the form prescribed in Article 10 establishing that the 22 obligations of this law have been complied with. 23 Article 10 24 The certificate drawn up by the authorized person shall be in 25 the following form or in a substantially similar form: 26 CERTIFICATE 27 (Convention of October 26, 1973) 28 1. I, ................................................. (name, address and 29 capacity), a person authorized to act in connection with 30 international wills page 6 Wills Amendment (International Wills) Bill 2012 s. 6 1 2. Certify that on ................................ (date) at 2 ............................. (place) 3 3. (testator) ............................................ (name, address, date 4 and place of birth) in my presence and that of the witnesses 5 4.(a) ................................................ (name, address, date and 6 place of birth) 7 (b) ................................................ (name, address, date and 8 place of birth) 9 has declared that the attached document is his will and that 10 he knows the contents thereof. 11 5. I furthermore certify that: 12 6.(a) in my presence and in that of the witnesses 13 (1) the testator has signed the will or has acknowledged his 14 signature previously affixed. 15 *(2) following a declaration of the testator stating that he was 16 unable to sign his will for the following 17 reason ............................................................................... 18 -- I have mentioned this declaration on the will 19 * -- the signature has been affixed by 20 .................................................................. (name, address) 21 7.(b) the witnesses and I have signed the will; 22 8.*(c) each page of the will has been signed by 23 ................................................. and numbered; 24 9.(d) I have satisfied myself as to the identity of the testator and 25 of the witnesses as designated above; 26 10.(e) the witnesses met the conditions requisite to act as such 27 according to the law under which I am acting; 28 11.*(f) the testator has requested me to include the following 29 statement concerning the safekeeping of his will 30 ............................................................................................. page 7 Wills Amendment (International Wills) Bill 2012 s. 6 1 12. PLACE 2 13. DATE 3 14. SIGNATURE and, if necessary, SEAL 4 Article 11 5 The authorized person shall keep a copy of the certificate 6 and deliver another to the testator. 7 Article 12 8 In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the certificate of 9 the authorized person shall be conclusive of the formal 10 validity of the instrument as a will under this Law. 11 Article 13 12 The absence or irregularity of a certificate shall not affect 13 the formal validity of a will under this Law. 14 Article 14 15 The international will shall be subject to the ordinary rules 16 of revocation of wills. 17 Article 15 18 In interpreting and applying the provisions of this law, 19 regard shall be had to its international origin and to the need 20 for uniformity of interpretation. 21 22 .................................................... 23 *To be completed if appropriate 24
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