Is a living will valid if it is not notarized?

Question

If you have a living will made out and signed by you with a witness then is that all you have to do or is it imperative to have it notarized by a notary public? I heard that the will doesn't count unless it is notarized and was wondering if that is true or not.

Ah, I think I worded this wrong. I didn't mean a living will. I just meant a regular will. The kind of will that people have so their belongings go to family when they pass away. That sort of thing. Sorry for the confusion. My fault.

Answer 1

Answering in more detail now that you have indicated that you are talking about a testementary will, and not some other form of document, the requirements for making a valid will can vary considerably from state to state. Each state's legislature has enacted statutes to determine the process of making a will.

The term Probate simply means "to prove".. in the old days it was necessary to bring in the witnesses in many cases to swear that the will was valid, that the decedent was sane and not under coercion when they signed the will, etc. Most states have a "self-proving" clause now that allows for a will to be valid if certain conditions are met. Almost always that includes a notarized statement from the witnesses that they saw you do the will, and that it was done freely, etc. Then, the Notary can also witness that you did the will in their own way.

There have been cases of holographic wills which are wills which are not done in the traditional format. There is one recorded case where a man, who was injured in an accident, scrawled in blood the words all to emma, (Emma was his wife). It was later upheld.

The best thing for you to do, to save your heirs a lot of time and money later is to contact an attorney and have him/her draw you up a proper will. The few hundred dollars it costs will save thousands of dollars later if the will you draw up yourself is not done correctly and has to be litigated in court.

For a referral to an attorney, contact your local or state bar association.

Answer 2

Ok, here is an edited post given that you mean a testamentary will and not a living will.

Laws for testamentary wills vary greatly from state to state. Some states require two or three witnesses, and some require none (this would be where you create a holographic will - this is a will that you write out by hand and then sign - but some states do NOT recognize a holographic will as valid). Because the laws vary so much, and because wills MUST follow the correct legal format in order to be valid, you should probably get an attorney to help you with this.

Answer 3

i think once it has mailing stamps in the bahamas value over 4 dollars, the stamps make it valid. i think its the case every where, there must be two stamps on it, it become a court document.