2742. STAMP-DUTIES.—In the case of persons dying intestate, when their effects are administered to by their family, the stamp-duty is half as much more as it would have been under a will. Freehold and copyhold estates are now subject to a special impost on passing, by the Stamp Act of 1857.
2743. The legacy-duty only commences when it amounts to £20 and upwards; and where it is not directed otherwise, the duty is deducted from the legacy.
2744. You cannot compound for past absence of charity by bequeathing land or tenements, or money to purchase such, to any charitable use, by your last will and testament; but you may devise them to the British Museum, to either of the two universities of Oxford and Cambridge, to Eton, Winchester, and Westminster; and you may, if so inclined, leave it for the augmentation of Queen Anne's bounty. You may, however, order your executors to sell land and hand over the money received to any charitable institution.
2745. In making provision for a wife, state whether it is in lieu of, or in addition to, dower.
2746. If you have advanced money to any child, and taken an acknowledgment for it, or entered it in any book of account, you should declare whether any legacy left by will is in addition to such advance, or whether it is to be deducted from the legacy.
2747. A legacy left by will to any one would be cancelled by your leaving another legacy by a codicil to the same person, unless it is stated to be in addition to the former bequest.
2748. Your entire estate is chargeable with your debts, except where the real estate is settled. Let it be distinctly stated out of which property, the real or personal, they are paid, where it consists of both.
2749. Whatever is devised, let the intention be clearly expressed, and without any condition, if you intend it to take effect.
2750. Attestation is not necessary to a will, as the act of witnessing is all the law requires, and the will itself declares the testator to be of sound mind in his own estimation; but, wherever there are erasures or interlineations, one becomes necessary. No particular form is prescribed; but it should state that the testator either signed it himself, or that another signed it by his request, or that he acknowledged the signature to be his in their presence, both being present together, and signed as witnesses in his presence. When there are erasures, the attestation must declare that—The words interlined in the third line of page 4, and the erasure in the fifth line of page 6, having been first made. These are the acts necessary to make a properly executed will; and, being simple in themselves and easily performed, they should be strictly complied with, and always attested.
2751. A witness may, on being requested, sign for testator; and he may also sign for his fellow-witness, supposing he can only make his mark, declaring that he does so; but a husband cannot sign for his wife, either as testator or witness, nor can a wife for her husband.