Can my husband and I write our own Wills?

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Can my husband and I write our own Wills?

My husband and I live in FL and need to have a Will, as well as a Power of Attorney. Would like to write our own on both. Would they be legal?

Asked on November 6, 2011 under Estate Planning, Florida

Answers:

M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

You can write your own Wills and have them legally recognized, as long as they meet the basic legal requirements under state law. No specific words that have to be used but a Will must be executed with certain formalities. These formalities involve the form of the Will, the signature of the testator (i.e. the person making the Will) and the signatures of the attesting witnesses.

A Will be considered valid if:

  1. The document is written (meaning typed or printed);
  2. Signed by the testator (who must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind); and
  3. Signed by 2 witnesses who were present to witness the execution of the document by the maker and who also witnessed each other sign the document (preferably the witnesses should be "disinterested parties", that is not beneficiaries under the Will, although this is not a technical requirement).

Additionally, if you want to use an on-line form get one that has been specifically drafted with your state law in mind. If you don't want to go to the expense of paying an attorney to draft your Will that's fine.  But if you write your own or use a form, it may be worth the minimal cost of having an attorney at least review them. You want to make sure that not only have all technical requirements been met but that the content of your Wills are legally sufficient. Bottom line, you want the assurance of having your estates distributed according to your wishes. 

Note: You should consider using self-proving affidavits (the on-line forms may include one). Such an affidavit is signed by the 2 witnesses, under penalty of perjury, who observed the testator sign the Will and heard them state that it was theirWill.  Once this affidavit is executed it makes it unnecessary for the witnesses to appear in court to affirm the Will’s validity after death. This saves the beneficiaries and witnesses considerable inconvenience. It also gives a Will an extra layer of authentication that allows a probate court to easily accept it as the true Will of the testator. It can help beneficiaries avoid a long and costly probate process.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

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