WILLS-VALIDITY OF ATTESTATION ON SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER NOT PHYSICALLY ATTACHED TO WILL

Authors

Myron J. Nadler, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Testatrix drew an instrument consisting of a single sheet of paper, intending it as her will. In the presence of a notary public, three witnesses observed the instrument with testatrix' signature thereon and her acknowledgment of it as her will, but did not sign it. The document was then placed in an envelope. A separate instrument of attestation which referred to the will was prepared by the notary and signed by the testatrix and the attesting witnesses. This instrument and the envelope containing the will were both placed in another folder which was then deposited with the proper officials. Probate was contested on the basis that the Alabama statute, requiring at least two witnesses not only to attest the execution of the instrument but also to subscribe their names "thereto," was not satisfied. Held, the attestation was a part of the will itself and sufficient under the statute. Johnston v. King, (Ala. 1948) 35 S. (2d) 202.

Recommended Citation

Myron J. Nadler, WILLS-VALIDITY OF ATTESTATION ON SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER NOT PHYSICALLY ATTACHED TO WILL, 47 Mich. L. Rev. 440 (1949).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol47/iss3/28