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What if the Will is not signed?

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liveoak

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

The state if Virginia. Does a will have to be signed by the owner of the estate and personal effects and witnessed and notorized to be a legal document? My father has been working on his Will with another person ( not a lawyer) for a long time but refuses to sign it until he is satisfied with the contents. If he dies before signing the will, does it have any legal value in dividing up his estate?
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

The state if Virginia. Does a will have to be signed by the owner of the estate and personal effects and witnessed and notorized to be a legal document? My father has been working on his Will with another person ( not a lawyer) for a long time but refuses to sign it until he is satisfied with the contents. If he dies before signing the will, does it have any legal value in dividing up his estate?
If it's not properly signed, it's not a will.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
My father has been working on his Will with another person ( not a lawyer) for a long time but refuses to sign it until he is satisfied with the contents.
I don't know how you think about it but not signing the will until he is satisfied with it's contents seems like a very smart thing to do. Why would you even suggest he sign a will he is not satisfied with?
 

liveoak

Junior Member
Will not signed

I don't know how you think about it but not signing the will until he is satisfied with it's contents seems like a very smart thing to do. Why would you even suggest he sign a will he is not satisfied with?
I totally agree. The concern is that this has been going on for years and he says that he just doesn't know how to divide things up so that everyone is satisfied. He will soon be 93. Attempts to encourage him to finilize his will, is hopefully for his peace of mind, as well as to avoid potential conflicts among siblings after his death. Thus the question of how things up if there is no legal will.. That situation is most often does not end well.

Thanks
 

justalayman

Senior Member
true but it is his estate. If he doesn't want to sign a will, it is obviously his choice. If he really wants to determine how anything is distributed, he will make a proper will.


The other thing to consider; writing a will, especially at his age, is accepting mortality. It can be very hard to do that.
 

tranquility

Senior Member
If the will is not signed at his death, there won't be any "potential conflicts" between the siblings as the estate will pass by law according to intestate succession.
 

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