Is your state one of them? Check out this link to see: http://www.lawchek.com/Library1/_books/probate/qanda/holographic.htm

Also, the website provides the state statute/law for your own state code. This will can look up the law and find out the specific steps you must follow to make the holograph a legally binding document.

If you do not know how to look up a state statute, copy down the number listed under your state. Then, go to the library and ask a librarian for help.

As far as proof is concerned, you need to have people who can attest (by affidavit, usually) to familiarity with your handwriting.

Although, as a lawyer, the laws of intestacy work just fine for me.

Wills are public documents, trusts are not.

If you are known to have substantial net worth and use a will to distribute your assets, your beneficiaries will be targets of every scammer out there.

Not so with a trust.

One of the things I like about the book is that it also tells you when you’re better off consulting a lawyer instead of just using the templates they show. (For instance, if you have past marriages or children from prior relationships, if you own a business, or if you have enough assets to be subject to estate tax, none of which apply to us yet.) It also reminded us to check beneficiary designations for our life insurance and retirement plans, which aren’t necessarily covered by the provisions of a will.

We typed up a couple of wills using the templates, took them and a couple of folks we know to a local notary, did a quick series of signatures, and that was that. (This is *not* a holographic will, because of the witnesses and notarization.) Total cost, including the book: about $40.

We might eventually go with lawyer-drafted wills when we’re older, and more elaborate arrangements are in order. But this should do us for now, and if you have a spouse and/or kids, it’s often much better to have a simple, clear will (even without the lawyer) than no will at all.

Here is an alternative: if you can’t afford to have a real will drawn up (mind you, our law firm charges about $400 for consultation, drafting, execution, and storage of an individual will along with powers of attorney and health care directives – hint: if you own a video game console, you can afford a real will)…if you really can’t afford a real will, just make immediate gifts those special items to your intended beneficiaries while you are alive, and let the intestacy laws take care of the disposition of your other assets. Those laws make pretty good sense, and better yet, nobody can contest them. A holographic will, on the other hand, is like an improvised explosive device. Whether or not you have prior wills in existence, it can only introduce uncontrollable variables into the disposition of your estate when you pass. It’s a horrible idea.

In my state, New York, holographic wills are completely void unless the testator writes the will during armed combat or on the verge of shipwreck at sea.

Certainly, if you have young children and a terminal diagnosis, this is a great way to record messages for turning points in the child’s life. Congratulate them on their Confirmation, 16th birthday, the first time they get fired, their wedding day, the birth of their first child, etc.

Hope you don’t need to do this!

Frankly, we’d rather the will not be holographic since they are subject to attack and not easily admitted to court. Trust me – I had to probate a holographic will on a bar napkin and it wasn’t fun.

Also, in California, wills are not notarized.

Cheers,
Ken

If you want to keep a side list, the best practice in many states is to execute a will that refers to a codicil (side list) to be executed later. Then you use the codicil to make your list. In that situation, the codicil would not purport to be a will, but rather would refer specifically to your executed will. The codicil should still include certain formalities, such as execution in front of witnesses and a notary — again, these vary by state. With both documents, you would be left with a “permanent” will that disposes of most of your property, along with a side document that is easier to revoke and easier to replace to dispose of the listed property.

I don’t have a will at all, and my siblings are already the beneficiaries on my retirement accounts, which is the majority of my assets (I’m single, no kids). In my case, seems like a holographic will would be better than nothing.