Last Will and Testament for a Single Person with Minor Children
Note: This wills law summary is not intended
to be an all-inclusive discussion of the law of wills in the District of
Columbia, but does contain basic and other provisions. Handwritten
wills, or wills where the testator cannot sign his or her name are not
included.
Capacity to make a will: A will, testament,
or codicil is not valid for any purpose unless the person making it is
at least 18 years of age and, at the time of executing or acknowledging
it as provided by this chapter, of sound and disposing mind and capable
of executing a valid deed or contract. 18-102.
Execution of written will; attestation: A
will must be in writing and signed by the testator, and attested
and subscribed in the presence of the testator, by at least two credible
witnesses. 18-103.
Revocation of wills:
(a) A will or codicil,
or a part thereof, may not be revoked, except by implication of law, otherwise
than by
(1) a later will, codicil, or other writing declaring the revocation,
executed as provided by law; or
(2) burning, tearing, cancelling, or obliterating the will or codicil,
or the part thereof, with the intention of revoking it, by the testator
himself, or by a person in his presence and by his express direction and
consent.
(b) A will or codicil, or a part thereof, after it is revoked,
may not be revived otherwise than by its re-execution, or by a codicil
executed as provided in the case of wills, and then only to the extent
to which an intention to revive is shown. 18-109.
Opening will before delivery to Probate Court: A
person having possession or custody of a testamentary instrument may, after
the death of the testator, open and read it in the presence of near relatives
of the deceased, who may conveniently have notice thereof, and of other
persons, and immediately thereafter may deliver the will or codicil to
the Probate Court or the Register of Wills, until proceedings may be held
for the purpose of proving it or other action is taken thereon. 18-110.
Withholding will: Whoever, having possession
of a testamentary instrument, willfully neglects, for the period of 90
days after the death of the testator becomes known to him, to deliver it
to the Probate Court, or to the Register of Wills, or to an executor named
in the instrument, shall be fined not more than $500. 18-111.
Taking and carrying away, or destroying, mutilating, or secreting
will: Whoever, during the life or after the death
of the testator, for a fraudulent purpose, takes and carries away, or destroys,
mutilates, or secretes, a testamentary instrument, shall be imprisoned
not more than five years. 18-112.
Devises, legacies, etc., to attesting witnesses.
(a) A beneficial devise, legacy, estate, interest, gift, or power
of appointment of or affecting real or personal estate, given
or made to an attesting witness to a will or codicil is void as
to him and persons claiming under him, except as provided by subsections
(b) and (c) of this section.
(b) Where an interested witness to a will or codicil, referred
to in subsection (a) of this section, would be entitled to a share
of the estate of the testator in case the will or codicil were
not established, he or persons claiming under him shall take such portion
of the devise or bequest made to him in the will or codicil as
does not exceed the share of the estate which would be distributed
to him or persons claiming under him in case of intestacy.
(c) The voidance provided for by subsection (a) of this section
does not apply to charges on real estate for the payment of debts.
(d) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, an interested
witness referred to therein, whether an heir at law or not, is
not disqualified as a competent witness to the execution of the
will or codicil by reason of his interest. 18-104.
