Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Virginia

Re: will

Other facts may be relevant. However, if the copy is a true copy of a validly executed will, it likely will supersede the original of the earlier will. One may need to ask why the prior original was not destroyed.

Re: will

IF there is any doubt about the reality of the

second will or its proper execution, then the

original will will continue to control.

However, if the testimony and evidence shows that

the testator (decedent) validly canceled the first

will, the first will will no longer be in force

even if the second will cannot be found.

A true copy of the second will will be a substitute for the original, if the court is convinced it is an accurate copy. (If it is from the attorney's files who prepared the will, this will almost certainly be believed as an accurate copy.)

Even if all signed copies of the second will have been lost, the contents can still be testified to in court. At that point, evidence and testimony can be introduced to show what the original version of the second will actually said. However, again, if there is any lingering doubt, the court will not assume that the second will existed and was actually executed properly and validly. The court would have to be absolutely convinced that the second will existed, was properly signed with all the witnesses, etc., and was then lost.

Frequently, the attorney's office will have a

copy, these days even a computer version, and

could testify to what the second will said.

In both cases, the old will and the new will, an

act of intentional destruction may serve to

cancel the will (but it must be complete or must

deface the text to cancel it, it can be done

ineffectively; there must be no doubt about the

testator's intent to cancel his or her will.)

So, it is possible that the second will was also

destroyed as an intentional act to cancel the

second will as well. In that case, the testator

might have NO will at all in force.