Question

Wasp, Sting and Pepper all deceased, died in a road traffic accident while travelling home to bury their late father, Simba. Simba died at an advanced age of eighty years. Pursuant to their death, the following emerged,

1.Wasp had drawn a valid Will five years before death. The bequest clause provided as follows, "I bequeath all my property to my three children equally". His estate comprised of three town houses in Woodland County. Years after drawing the Will, he acquired another town house but did not draw a subsequent Will to include this property.

2.Sting had drawn a Will two years before death under which he bequeathed his property to his two sons equally. However the signature in the said Will was heavily scoured and it was difficult to tell whether it was indeed Sting's signature.

He had also drawn another valid Will one year before his death where he gave all his property to one son and nothing to the other due to his criminal conduct.

3.Pepper, who was unmarried and had no children of her own, had drawn a Will one year before death. Under the terms of the Will, all he property would be inherited by her mother, should she die within six months from the date of making the Will.

She had also drawn another will, six months later stating that her property should devolve to a charity dealing with disabled children, should she not be survived by any child.

4.Hours before he died, Simba called two independent witnesses and explained to them how his property should be distributed once he died. The mode of distribution was reduced into writing by one of the witnesses. However, Simba died before signing the document drawn by the witness.

With the aid of the relevant case law, explain the validity of each of the Wills cited above and how the respective property should devolve. (15 Marks)