Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts

Re: Is my parents will legitimate?

Generally speaking, a will in Massachusetts is binding if it is witnessed by

two (or more) impartial witnesses. If someone who is to recieve a gift is a

witness, that gift is lost to them.

Often, a will will also contain a self-proving affidavit, which will eliminate

the need for a court appearance to have the will "approved" by the court upon the

death of the party. Each party needs their own will.

There is no requirement that the will be "filed" anywhere, prior to

their death.

Regards,

Alan

Alan D. Humbert

Law Office of Alan D. Humbert

134 Main Street

Re: Is my parents will legitimate?

Two is the correct number of witnesses, but as you tell it,

you could require both the witnesses be alive and available to

testify after the death of one of your parents.

There are two better things to

do for your situation (where you are an AZ atty and they are now

and may die Mass. residents): 1) Will-signing is about the most

highly technical field of law there is, so get it done right for sure.

Have it signed anew in front of

two witnesses who not only acknowledge the testator's signatures

(and that they are doing so of their own free will, and mental capacity*,

and personally knows them, your parents must state that these are their

final wishes that they are having witnessed) but also acknowlege the

presence of one another (! another highly technical requirement) and do

with an experienced notary present to notarize the signatures of the

witnesses strictly according to the local laws (I'm not going to bother

to see if your state has uniform laws in the notary area; our state's notarization

laws give good comity to the laws of sister states).

Anyway, with that notary involved, you have added a "self-proving affidavit"

(e-mail for me text if you don't have it); also I can probably dig up for you articles

on the "will-signing ceremony" -- make it memorably for the witnesses as a backup)

which allows the will to be accepted without calling witnesses during the probate

process.

The second thing for you to do is to file it in probate court here in MA. It costs

$5 to file it. (Original only, please!)

If the estate is or "hopes" to be of any significance -- let's say "is" now worth over

a half-million dollars INCLUDING the total of both parents' life insurance policies' payout

values!, call me about doing some tax planning.

If there is any significant chance of a will contest (one child getting less than another

is a typical clue!), there are two more steps to take -- well, call

me if that's a possibility.

[email protected] is my e-mail address; if you write, tell me about yourself, please.

But when all is said and done, if it's a small estate for a peaceful family, a 2-witness will is

legally valid.

At time of death, anyone knowing the whereabouts of any wills is required to produce them for the court. Typically people hire a probate

lawyer to work the estate through the court, especially if there's any real property involved.

Good luck in your new career.

Stuart Williams

Law Offices of Stuart J. Williams

21 Walter St.

Re: Is my parents will legitimate?

The article on the will-signing ceremony I referred to was

written by a Prof. Gerry W. Beyers, usually St. Mary's School

of Law in Tx, published a few years back in a major Probate

Law or Estate Planning magazine.

Please send me some follow-up e-mail to tell me

how you proceeded on your parents' behalf. How are

they doing? What part of Mass. do they live in?

What kind of law do you practice? Are you enjoying

it?

[email protected]

Stuart Williams

Law Offices of Stuart J. Williams

21 Walter St.

Newton, MA

02459-2509

tel. (617) 527-0050

Stuart Williams

Law Offices of Stuart J. Williams

21 Walter St.

Re: Is my parents will legitimate?

In Massachusetts, wills may be filed at the probate court for safe storage. This is optional. A will must

be filed with a petition for probate within 30 days after a person dies.

Alan Pransky

Law Office of Alan J. Pransky

20 Eastbrook Road

Re: Is my parents will legitimate?

Are you still at this e-mail address?

I wish to modify what was said prior: the will must

be witnessed by "disinterested" parties, not impartial

witnesses. To the extent that a will leaves something

to one of the two witnesses, the will is invalid; that is,

the gift to that witness is invalid and the rest stands!

Did you file the will in the probate court? It costs $5

per will; I'll do it for you if you like. Send me e-mail

to [email protected] or else my old address,

[email protected] and let me know what field of law

you are going into.