The certificate that must be affixed to the Will in those circumstances requires prudent application and once again, many a Will has failed for not fully complying with these requirements of the Act.Ī testator may want to make certain amendments to his Will by deleting, adding or amending words or phrases. Similarly, the Act provides for a situation where a person is illiterate or infirm and signs a Will by making a mark or impressing a fingerprint. The Act makes provision for that person to direct someone else to sign the Will on his behalf. It is interesting to consider the position of a testator who is incapable of physically signing a Will because an impediment or infirmity prevents him from doing so. By the same token, anyone who witnesses a Will cannot be appointed as an executor. So it is important to select witnesses who are not beneficiaries or potential beneficiaries in the Will.
Even the spouse of that person is disqualified. It is not necessary for the witness to read the document or even to know that it is a Will, as his function is limited to witnessing the signature of the testator.Īnyone who writes out a Will or who witnesses a Will is disqualified from receiving any benefit from that Will. The Act determines that anyone over the age of 14 years at the time he witnesses the Will and who is competent to give evidence in a court of law, may act as a witness. However, it is important to date a Will because it makes it easier to determine the sequence, if the testator has left behind more than one valid Will, and so, to ascertain whether it is the Last Will and Testament or whether the document has since been revoked, or is revoking another valid Will. It is not necessary to have an attestation clause or even to date a Will for it to be valid.
#Does a will have to be notarized to be valid full#
We also recommend that all parties sign in full on each page. The witnesses must sign in the presence of each other and the testator.įor best practice, we recommend that the witnesses sign each page, as well as at the end of the document. The witnesses must also sign the Will, although, in their case, they need merely to sign at the end of the document and not on each page if the document consists of more than one page. The testator must sign his Will (or confirm his signature) in the presence of two or more competent witnesses, who must be present at the same time. Recent amendments to the Act brought about certain relaxations in the execution of Wills, one of which was that the definition of the term ‘signed’ is not limited to refer only to a full signature, but also includes the testator’s initials. If the Will consists of more than one page, each page must also be signed by the testator. If the Will consists of a single page, it must be signed at the end of that page. This simple provision, which often trips up an inexperienced testator, has led to many Wills being declared invalid. The Will must be signed at the end of the document (as opposed to the bottom of the page). The female version of ‘testator’ is ‘testatrix’). The document must be signed by the testator (A testator is the person whose scheme of devolution is contained in the Will. A video recording will also not be accepted – despite what you might have seen in the movies! The basic formalities required for the execution of a valid Will are as follows: In practice, ‘writing’ includes not only a handwritten document, but also a typed or word-processed document. This is gleaned from the definition of a Will and the reference ‘signed’ and ‘document’ in the Act. The basic requirements for ensuring that you have a valid Will are set out in the Wills Act 7 of 1953, as amended, which apply to any testator who died on or after 1 October 1992.Īlthough it is not a named requirement in the Act, every Will must be in writing. Because it is so important that a Will is authentic and valid, and since, under the circumstances, it is not possible to check instructions after the death of the testator, there are highly formalised and regulated procedures in place to ensure the document is indeed a valid will. Our law now only recognises the so-called underhand Will – also known as a Statutory Will. Having slaved away your entire life to accumulate wealth, and having spent further time, energy and possibly money on drawing up a will for the purpose of distributing your riches unto those deemed most worthy, you will want to ensure that you have a valid Will and that your good intentions are not undone through carelessness or lack of knowledge.