Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Witness to Will & Beneficiary?
I just saw somewhere recently where a person cannot be a witness to a will and a beneficiary. My mother died in 2007 and my sister was a witness to her will. This same sister is also the Executor as well as a Beneficiary. Is it true that a person cannot be both? And what happens now that she is both? Is she no longer a beneficiary?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Witness to Will & Beneficiary?
I am afraid you are misinformed. A person can witness a will in which they are a beneficiary. Further, a person can be both executor and beneficiary. While having a beneficiary witness a will is generally avoided by most attorneys (due to the potential for such witnesses to appear as if influenced if the will is challenged), having a beneficiary witness does not automatically invalidate the will.
Re: Witness to Will & Beneficiary?
Yes. She loses her right to be beneficiary unless the will can be proved up without her. Two witnesses are required. If there were three witnesses she is not needed and her status as beneficiary is preserved.
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