Wills and probate

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2015

Principle established: In Sierra Leone, the validity of an assent to beneficiaries is governed by local law and applicable English statutes of general application as of 1880.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1967-68

Principle established: The words 'equal enjoyment' in a testamentary devise to two persons during their lives do not constitute words of severance, creating a joint tenancy rather than a tenancy in common.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1968

Principle established: A devise to two persons in equal enjoyment during their natural lives followed by a gift over after their death creates a joint tenancy, as equal enjoyment lacks words of severance.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: A devise referring to premises where a beneficiary is 'at present living' indicates an intention that the will speaks from the date of execution rather than death.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: A person preparing a will taking benefits must dispel the court's suspicion, and the destruction of a prior will by the testator with corroborating words demonstrates animus revocandi.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: Where a party prepares a will under which they benefit, they bear the burden of removing the court's suspicion of invalidity.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: A testamentary devise that property be used as family property manifests an intent to benefit the testator's overall family, creating a joint tenancy among the named devisees rather than a severed tenancy.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1962

Principle established: An executrix de son tort who assumes control over estate realty with full knowledge of testamentary devises holds the property as a constructive trustee for the named devisees.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1962

Principle established: An intermeddling executor de son tort who possesses estate property with knowledge of the will holds that property on trust for the beneficiaries entitled under the devise.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2026

Principle established: Contentious probate issues should generally not be determined by an originating notice of motion, and an order for certiorari requires proper verification of the underlying warrant or conviction.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: A devise of property to a daughter and her 'issues' creates a joint tenancy taking per capita between the daughter and her children rather than an estate tail.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1952

Principle established: A testamentary devise of property to a daughter and her 'issues' creates a joint tenancy between the daughter and her children taking per capita, rather than an estate tail.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: A devise to a person and their children creates an estate tail if there are no children living at the time, or a joint estate if children are alive.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: An executed, delivered, and registered inter vivos conveyance under which donees take possession cannot be revoked or overridden by the donor's subsequent will despite a death commencement recital.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: A fully executed and delivered deed under which donees have entered possession constitutes an effective inter vivos conveyance that cannot be revoked by a later will.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: A testamentary clause creating a specific fund for paying debts constitutes an expression of contrary intention preventing an unpaid purchase price from being a charge on the specific property.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1963

Principle established: A testamentary direction creating a special fund to satisfy charges demonstrates a contrary intention excluding statutory provisions that would otherwise charge the debt on the specific realty.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: A will establishing a special fund to pay estate charges operates as a contrary intention preventing unpaid purchase money from charging the conveyed property.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: The party propounding a will executed under suspicious circumstances, such as by an illiterate testator, bears the burden of proving that the testator knew, approved of, and voluntarily executed its contents.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: A trust is not legally charitable unless it confers a public benefit, and a gift providing travel and maintenance expenses exclusively for members of the testator's family is void.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1970-71

Principle established: A devise of property to a person until marriage with a gift over upon marriage creates neither a fee simple nor a life interest if the devisee dies unmarried.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1962

Principle established: An application for leave to appeal against a judgment construing a will must be brought within the statutory time limits prescribed by Sierra Leone procedural law.

Uganda · 2026

Principle established: An application for a grant of probate must be made within one year from the date of the testator's death as prescribed by the Succession Act.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1961

Principle established: An executrix who holds property as a trustee cannot rely on the Statute of Limitations and remains bound to account to the beneficiaries for estate property.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1970

Principle established: A testamentary gift of property until marriage with a gift over upon marriage fails if the beneficiary dies unmarried, passing as on intestacy in the absence of a residuary clause.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2017

Principle established: The interpretation of a will is central to determining whether a deceased person divested themselves of property or if the property remains part of the estate for the beneficiaries.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1970

Principle established: A devise made to a beneficiary until marriage with a gift over on marriage does not confer a fee simple or life interest if the beneficiary dies unmarried.