Directory_and_Chronicle_1889 — Page 908

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RULES OF SUPREME COURT

If both the subscribing witnesses are dead, -or if from other circums- tances no affidavit can be obtained from either of them,-resort must be had to other persons (if any) who were present at the execution of the will; but if no affidavit of any such other person can be obtained, evidence on oath must be procured of that fact, and of the handwriting of the deceased and of the subscribing witnesses, and also of any circumstances that may raise a presumption in favour of the due execution of the will.

206. The officer shall not allow probate of the will, or administration blind, obviously with the will annexed, of any blind person, or of any obviously illiterate or ignorant person, to issue, unless he has previously satisfied himself, by what appears on the face of the will or by evidence on oath, that the will was read over to the deceased before its execution, or that the deceased had at the time knowledge of its contents.

Will of testator

illiterate, or ignorant.

Interlineations, alteratione, erasures, or obliterations.

Deed, paper, or docunient referred to in a will,

or annexed or attached.

Where this information is not forthcoming, the officer must commu- nicate with the Judge of the Supreme Court.

207. Having satisfied himself that the will was duly executed, the officer must carefully inspect the same to see whether there are any interlineations or alterations or erasures or obliterations appearing in it, and requiring to be accounted for.

Interlineations and alterations are invalid unless they existed m the will at the time of its execution, or,-if made afterwards, unless they have been executed and attested in the mode required by the said Acts of Parliament,—or unless they have been made valid by the re-execution of the will or by the subsequent execution of some codicil thereto.

Where interlineations or alterations appear in the will (unless duly executed or recited in or otherwise identified by the attestation clause) an affidavit or affidavits in proof of their having existed in the will before its execution must be filed.

In like manner, erasures and obliterations are not to prevail unless proved to have existed in the will at the time of its execution or unless the alterations thereby effected in the will are duly executed and attested, -or unless they have been made valid by the re-execution of the will, or by the subsequent execution of some codicil thereto.

If no satisfactory evidence is adduced as to the time when the erasures or obliterations were made, and the words erased or obliterated are not entirely effaced, and can, on inspection of the paper, be ascertained, they must form part of the probate.

In every case of words having been erased which might have been of importance an affidavit must be required.

If reasonable doubt exists in regard to any interlineation, alteration, erasure, or obliteration, the officer shall, before proceeding further in the matter, communicate with the Judge of the Supreme Court for his direc- tions.

208. Where a will contains a reference to any deed, paper, memo- randum, or other document, of such a nature as to raise a question whether it ought or ought not to form a constituent part of the will, the produ:- tion of the deed, paper, memorandum, or other document must be re- quired, with a view to ascertain whether or not it is entitled to probate; and if not produced the non-production of it must be accounted for by evidence on oath.

Any deed, paper, memorandum, or other document cannot form part of a will or codicil, unless it was in existence at the time when the will or codicil was executed.

If there are any vestiges of sealing wax or wafers or other marks on the testamentary paper, leading to the inference that some paper, memo- randum, or other document has been annexed or attached thereto, they must be satisfactorily accounted for by evidence on oath, or the produc