probate/wills

california resident. Does a statement HAVE to be notorized?? I so n so being of sound mind leave the real property to jo....  thats what i have is that okay? of course the person who wrote is deceased so if not am I screwed?

Laymans suggestion:

The once rigid rules have been relaxed a bit in CA but I'm not good enough on details .  2 witness were sort  of necessary under old law  --now apparently relaxed  ---I'm not sure a notary was ever mandatory .--witnesses were a big issue

Dig as bit deeper .

How does one "prove " it was that persons signature  --and is anyone disputing that?

If you're talking about a will when you say "statement", no, the law doesn't require it to be notarized.  The signature needs to be witnessed by two people, however.  Your post is a bit garbled, so we cannot know whether this "statement" is not to act as a will but to memorialize a pre-death gift. 

You may want to seek local estate-probate counsel.

Teri N:

Does a statement HAVE to be notorized?

Very little is required by law to be notarized, but the answer obviously depends on what sort of "statement" you're talking about.

If you're asking whether a will needs to be notarized, the answer is no.  However, a will does need to be witnessed by at least two persons (preferably disinterested persons).

Teri N:

of course the person who wrote is deceased so if not am I screwed?

I should hope it goes without saying that something written by a now deceased person can be neither notarized nor witnessed.

Drew:

2 witness were sort  of necessary under old law  --now apparently relaxed  ---I'm not sure a notary was ever mandatory .--witnesses were a big issue

"Sort of necessary"???

Two witnesses are required now (for a valid will) and have been for at least the last four decades.

Has not Section 6110  of Ca Probate Code been relaxed cira 2008  as to the 2 witnesses requirment of old? Or did the measure not pass.

A handwritten will also might be different?

This statement is a will, from my husbands step mother, now deceased, saying the property goes to my husband, it is witnessed by two people,  one of the witnesses has since also passed, and I am the other witness that signed. I've read that it should be preferably someone with NO interest.?? I dont believe there is going to be any other heirs,living. do you know if calif courts will except will because of me being married to heir and witnessing??

Now I get what you mean.

Probate Code Section 6110(c)(2) provides as follows:

If a will was not executed in compliance with [the requirement of two disinterested witnesses], the will shall be treated as if it was executed in compliance with [with the witness requirement] if the proponent of the will establishes by clear and convincing evidence that, at the time the testator signed the will, the testator intended the will to constitute the testator's will.

I've not read any cases that clarify what sort of evidence is sufficient under this provision.

And yes, holographic wills can be permitted under Probate Code Section 6111.

Teri N:

I am the other witness that signed. I've read that it should be preferably someone with NO interest.

Not just "preferably."

I would refer you to Probate Code Section 6112. However, that statute is a great example of "legalese." Essentially, what Section 6112 says is that, unless there are two other disinterested witnesses, there will be a presumption that an interested witness exercised undue, duress, or fraud on the deceased. However, an interested witness who cannot overcome such presumption may still receive whatever he/she would have received if there were no will.

That said, it doesn't appear that you're an interested witness.  Does the will provide for anything to you?

no nothing in will for me just my husband

 so am i an interested or not interested? party?  By way of law?marriage? I guess the answer is probably.  wow probate is more technical than violent crime, crazy!

               holographic? wills? what do you mean??

Teri N:

 so am i an interested or not interested? party?

In general, you are not an interested person if you are not someone who will receive something from the estate. California probate code defines "interested person" as follows:

48.  (a) Subject to subdivision (b), "interested person" includes any of the following:

        (1) An heir, devisee, child, spouse, creditor, beneficiary, and any other person having a property right in or claim against a trust estate or the estate of a decedent which may be affected by the proceeding.

        (2) Any person having priority for appointment as personal representative.

        (3) A fiduciary representing an interested person.

   (b) The meaning of "interested person" as it relates to particular persons may vary from time to time and shall be determined according to the particular purposes of, and matter involved in, any proceeding.

Teri N:

holographic? wills? what do you mean??

A "holographic will" is one in which the all the will provisions (or at least the material parts of it) were hand written by the decedent and the decedent signed and dated the will. Holographic wills do not need witnesses to be valid.