Devoted to Corporate Attorneys, Corporate Lawyers, and Corporate Counsel

The following is not meant to be legal advice.

A valid will requires that the testator possess the legal capacity to make a will, that he/she intend the document in question to be his/her will, and that the document intended to be a will be executed pursuant to required statutory formalities.

For instance, when the testator has testamentary capacity and is not subject to duress, menace, fraud, undue influence, coercion, mistake, the requirements of testamentary capacity and intent may be met.

There are statutory formalities for holographic or attested wills.  In California, holographic wills are those that are handwritten by the testator.  The will cannot be considered holographic when it is typewritten, and must be in compliance with the formalities of attested wills in order to be valid.

An attested will is required to be signed by the testator in the presence of witnesses.  For instance, if testator signs the will in the presence of witness, each present at the time, with witness witnessing testator’s signing, and understanding the document to be testator’s will, the requirement for witnessing is met.