Notarial certification is not necessary in California to legalize your will. Some states allow you to make your own will by signing a special notary affidavit that accompanies the will. However, California allows your will to prove itself without a self-test affidavit. Because a will and will do not go into effect until the manufacturer dies, many jurisdictions require a notary public to verify the signature.
The state's probate code sets out the various forms of wills valid in California, and while some warrant witnesses, none require a notarized signature. Under California law, there is no requirement that a will must be notarized to be valid. While many wills can be notarized, failure to notarize will not provide grounds for a challenge to wills. In some cases, however, a will may have been notarized under the erroneous belief that doing so outweighs the need for two disinterested witnesses to see the signing of the will.
If necessary, a living will would take effect as long as a person is alive, while a last will and a will only take effect after the death of a person. A last will and a will can be essential to the distribution of real and personal property after your death. Even if a last will and a will do not take effect until the death of the testator, or the person who drafts it, it is crucial to ensure that the will is valid long before that person's death. A last will and a will are beneficial for many reasons, including that they can offer the testator great peace of mind knowing that his assets will be distributed according to his wishes upon death.
It is the notary's responsibility to ensure that the signatory knows what he has signed (this is called testamentary capacity) and that he has signed it voluntarily and not because of any undue influence. LegalZoom's California Last Will and Testament can also guarantee that any “remnants of the inheritance, assets left after distribution, end up where the testator intended. In addition to the last will as described above, California also recognizes holographic wills as valid legal documents. A California will and will can be changed at any time the testator wishes; in fact, the California Bar Association recommends that you review your will “periodically to address any circumstances or intentions that may have changed since you wrote it.
An important part of any estate plan, a will and a will contain instructions as to who inherits your assets and assets. The legal will contains the basic outline of a last will and a will with blank spaces to develop personal information.
