Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: Are witnesses to a will required?

Go-ahead to fill these out in get the two witnesses to watch you sign. Then after the first person dies you'll discover all the problems that are created by using forms without knowledge. Definitely after the second person dies all of those problems become the problems of your children. Many of them involve potential tax problems, income taxes as well as potential estate tax problems depending upon the size of the estate. Title problems, transfer problems and a whole array that I have had to deal with in the 30 years of practice in this area. As a say on the commercial pay mean our pay me later. And with people who use form documents without knowing that technicalities involved, specially with estates, the payment of his a lot higher than the original cost would have been. My advice, throw away the stupid forms and go to a real live attorney who specialized in estate planning. At least do for an initial consultation.i have been practicing law in this speciality for over 30 years in the san francisco bay area and if you wish to consult with me you can contact me at 925-945-6000.

Re: Are witnesses to a will required?

To be valid in California, a will MUST be witnessed by 2 people who witness the person making the will sign it. A notarized will is invalid. A notary should not ever notarize a will.

If you have any assets, such as real property, you are better off establishing a revocable trust. Even with a will, your estate would need to go through probate if the gross assets exceed $100K. Probates are slow and expensive.

Re: Are witnesses to a will required?

statutorily, yes, two witnesses are required for a non-holographic will in california. a holographic will is a handwritten will.

but if the will is typed or you are filling in forms, witnesses are needed to authenticate that you both were there at the time and did in fact intend to make the document at issue your will, however, it is irrelevant for the witnesses to actually know what your will consists of inside. they just need to witness the signing basically.

if you do not have your own witnesses, you can meet with an attorney to provide you with the requisite witnesses so that your wills meet the statutory requirements. if you would like further assistance in this matter, email or call us directly.

Re: Are witnesses to a will required?

Wills must have at least two witnesses. The witnesses can know you, but if they stand to receive anything under the will, they will be held to be interested witness. If that is the case, your will could be found to be invalid. Also, if they are related to you, they will be found to be interested witnesses.

Also, most attorneys would never recommend will forms without attorney supervision. Just too dangerous. Of course you would expect that answer coming from an attorney, but I would suggest being very careful. You may have other options, such as a living trust that would have more flexibilty and avoid probate.

Wills are not notarized in California. You need two disinterested witnesses. Suggestions: People you work with? Secretaries at your office?

Please feel free to email my office or call if we can be of further service.

Re: Are witnesses to a will required?

The other attorneys have given you the correct advice, but I'll concur to let you know a fourth one agrees.