Van Wetten v Bosch

In Van Wetten v Bosch, an important case in the South African law of succession, Van Wetten was the sister of Tertius Bosch, a cricketer who had died of Guillain–Barré syndrome. Van Wetten approached the court to declare a document written by the deceased to be his valid will. The deceased had a previous joint will with his wife in which they had nominated each other as the sole heirs of their respective estates. After the joint will was concluded, and before the birth of their second child, Bosch wrote a series of notes regarding his wife’s infidelity; one of these handwritten notes stated that his oldest son was his sole heir. The court held that it was clear in the note, and in light of the surrounding circumstances, that Bosch had intended to disinherit his wife, so the court declared the note to be a valid will.