Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Wisconsin
How are wills legal?
My mother was living with this man for 13 years in the state of Wisconsin. He died and left a will. It was never notarized or filed in a court. Is the will still good? I was under the impression that it had to be notarized before it to be legal but my mother informed me that he had called a lawyers office and was told that it did not have to be notarized. What is the real story?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: How are wills legal?
Holographic, or handwritten, wills are not recognized in Wisconsin.
To be valid, a will must be properly witnessed. Without
witnesses, it is invalid. Depending on when it was
executed, the requirements for witnessing have changed.
Older rules required the witnesses to sign in the
presence of the testator and in the presence of each
other, in the same fashion that the testator must sign.
Newer rules are a bit more liberal. Notarization has
never been a requirement or even has meaning with
respect to executing wills.
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