A last will is the legal document that most people think of when the subject of estate planning arises. We practice law in North Dakota. There are certain formal requirements that must be met in order for a last will to be valid in the state of North Dakota.
The person who creates a last will is called the testator. After the death of the testator, the will is admitted to probate, and during this process the court determines the validity of the will.
In order for a last will to be valid in North Dakota, the testator must sign the will in front of two witnesses.The witnesses must also sign the document.
It could be valid even if it is not notarized, but after the death of the testator, the court would seek out the witnesses during the proving of the will. This can slow things down considerably, and probate is a time-consuming process even if things go very smoothly.
To speed things up, the testator and the witnesses could go to a notary to create a self proving affidavit. When this document is included along with the will, it would be a self proving will. The court would be able to supervise the administration of the estate without contacting the witnesses if a self proving will is in place.
Interested parties could challenge the validity of the will during probate. There are some acceptable grounds for a will challenge. One of them is the matter of fraud. If the testator executed the will under fraudulent circumstances, it could be deemed invalid by the court.
Coercion or intimidation is another cause for invalidation, and of course, the testator must be of sound mind when the will is executed.
Free Report on Last Wills
If you would like to obtain more detailed information about last wills, you can access a valuable resource through this website. Our firm has prepared a series of special estate planning and elder law reports, and one report is focused on last wills.
These reports are offered free of charge, and you can download any or all of them at any time. To get your copy of this particular report, visit this page and follow the simple instructions: Last Will Report.
July Seminars Announced
We make every effort to get out into the community in person to provide educational opportunities. To this end we offer estate planning seminars on an ongoing basis, and we have a couple of seminars coming up in July.
The seminars are free to attend, but they fill up quickly, so we are making the announcement early.
To see the schedule along with additional details and registration information, visit this page: Estate Planning Seminars.
- Can I Contest a Trust? - June 2, 2020
- Planning for the Sandwich Generation - May 28, 2020
- Choosing the Right Fiduciaries - May 26, 2020
