Last will and testaments are formal legal documents that dispose of property upon the owner’s death. State laws provide several rules to be followed in preparing wills.

The purpose of these rules is to ensure that the will disposes of the owner’s property according to his intent. This is why states have adopted very specific rules relating to the property owner’s signature on his will. This article discusses a few of these very specific rules.

Many states accept an “X” as a valid signature on a will. This is especially true if the person signing the will is illiterate or too weak to sign the will.

Similarly, most states accept an abbreviation as a valid signature on a will. These abbreviations are commonly the initials of the person’s first and last name. In other cases, the abbreviation refers to the person’s title. Titles may include terms like, mother, father, etc. States may be more apt to accept abbreviated signatures if they person is known by the abbreviation.

Few - if any - states accept a rubber stamp or printed signature on a will. An “X” or some other hand marking next to the stamp or printed signature may be accepted though.

Most states seem to strike any language written below the person’s signature. It is thought that this extraneous language is an unsigned codicil to the will. A codicil is simply a written amendment to an existing will. Codicils are used to change one or more provisions while leaving the bulk of the original will intact. Codicils generally have to be signed just as wills are. Thus the language below a signature at the end of a regular will is usually ignored as an unsigned codicil to the original will.

Most states do not accept a videotape of the person in lieu of a valid signature. Many attorneys do in fact recommend clients make these videos. This is generally not to replace the signature requirement though. Rather, it is often to provide evidence in cases where the beneficiaries are likely to argue that the decedent lacked the capacity to make a will at some future time.

Similarly, probate courts do not enforce language in wills suggesting action by the beneficiary. For example, language suggesting the beneficiary go into politics, if not made an express condition on inheriting property, will not be enforced. Nevertheless, decedents often do include this type of precatory langauge in their wills to pass on their life experiences rather than just passing on money. In some cases decedents will leave a separate document for this very purpose. As with precatory langauge in the will itself, the probate courts will not uphold provisions in these letters — especially if the letter lacks the formalities required of wills.

Having examined the formalities for wills and the signature requirement for wills, we can now take a step back and look at the method by which most wills are executed. Let’s consider the steps for executing a will now.