Is a Will Valid?
Someone on Avvo recently asked: "Is a will wrote on paper and noterized legal"
Answer from Bowling Green, Ohio Estate Planning Attorney Staten Middleton: "
More information is needed. Does your mother live in Ohio. The law in Ohio provides:
Except oral wills, every will shall be in writing, but may be handwritten or typewritten. The will shall be signed at the end by the testator or by some other person in the testator's conscious presence and at the testator's express direction.
The will shall be attested and subscribed in the conscious presence of the testator, by two or more competent witnesses, who saw the testator subscribe, or heard the testator acknowledge the testator's signature.
For purposes of this section, "conscious presence" means within the range of any of the testator's senses, excluding the sense of sight or sound that is sensed by telephonic, electronic, or other distant communication.
That is deceptively simple. There have been thousands of law suits over the technical application of this rule to what initially sounds simple. I would suggest you contact a lawyer to draft one so you don't have to worry about it.
Also, many assets pass on death without a Will or even in direct contradiction to a Will. Most attorneys should be able to advise you about this. "
