Last Will and Testament for a Single Person with Minor Children
Note: This summary is not intended to be an all-inclusive
discussion of the law of wills in Iowa, but does contain basic and other
provisions. It does not discuss handwritten wills or wills where
the testator cannot sign his or her name.
Execution and witnessing of wills: A will must be signed
by the testator and declared by the testator to be the testator's will,
and witnessed, at the testator's request, by two competent persons who
must sign the will as witnesses in the presence of the testator and in
the presence of each other. 633.279
Who may witness; interested witnesses: Any person who
is sixteen years of age, or older, and who is competent to be a witness
generally in this state, may act as an attesting witness to a will. 633.280
No will is invalidated because attested by an interested witness;
but any interested witness shall, unless the will is also attested by two
competent and disinterested witnesses, forfeit so much of the provisions
therein made for the interested witness as in the aggregate exceeds in
value, as of the date of the decedent's death, that which the interested
witness would have received had the testator died intestate. No attesting
witness is interested unless the witness is devised or bequeathed some
portion of the testator's estate. 633.281
Self-proving will: An attested will may be made self-proved
at the time of its execution, or at any subsequent date, by the acknowledgment
thereof by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, each made
before a person authorized to administer oaths and take acknowledgments
under the laws of this state, and evidenced by such person's certificate,
under seal, attached or annexed to the will. The will form you have located
contains the self-proving affidavit. 633.279
Defect cured by codicil: If a codicil to a defectively
executed will is duly executed, and such will is clearly identified in
said codicil, the will and the codicil shall be considered as one instrument
and the execution of both shall be deemed sufficient. 633.282
Foreign wills: A will executed outside this state,
in the mode prescribed by the law, either of the place where executed or
of the testator's domicile, shall be deemed to be legally executed, and
shall be of the same force and effect as if executed in the mode prescribed
by the laws of this state, provided said will is in writing and subscribed
by the testator. 633.283
Revocation; cancellation; revival: A will can be revoked
in whole or in part only by being canceled or destroyed by the act or direction
of the testator, with the intention of revoking it, or by the execution
of a subsequent will. When done by cancellation, the revocation must be
witnessed in the same manner as the making of a new will. No will, nor
any part thereof, which shall be in any manner revoked, or which shall
be or become invalid, can be revived otherwise than by a reexecution thereof,
or by the execution of another will or codicil in which the revoked or
invalid will, or part thereof, is incorporated by reference. 633.284
Custodian of will; filing with Court; penalties: After
being informed of the death of the testator, the person having custody
of the testator's will shall deliver it to the court having jurisdiction
of the testator's estate. Every person who willfully refuses or fails to
deliver a will after being ordered by the court to do so shall be guilty
of contempt of court. The person shall also be liable to any person aggrieved
for the damages which may be sustained by such refusal or failure. 633.285
Deposit of will with clerk: The clerk shall maintain
a file for the safekeeping of wills. There shall be placed therein wills
deposited with the clerk by living testators or by persons on their behalf,
and wills of deceased testators not accompanied by petitions for the probate
thereof, when deposited with the clerk by persons having custody thereof
as provided in section 633.285 of this Code. 633.286
Manner of deposit: Every such will shall be enclosed
in a sealed wrapper. The clerk shall indorse thereon the name of the testator,
the name of the depositor, the date of deposit, and, if provided, the name
of the person to be notified of the deposit of such will upon the death
of the testator. The clerk shall hold such will until disposed of as provided
in section 633.288 or 633.289. 633.287
Delivery by clerk during lifetime of testator: During
the lifetime of the testator, such will shall be delivered only to the
testator, or to some person authorized by the testator by an order in writing
duly acknowledged. 633.288
Delivery by clerk after death of testator: After being
informed of the death of a testator, the clerk shall notify the person,
if any, named in the indorsement on the wrapper of said will. If no petition
for the probate thereof has been filed within thirty days after the death
of the testator, it shall be publicly opened, and the court shall make
such orders as it deems appropriate for the disposition of said will. The
clerk shall notify the executor named therein and such other persons as
the court shall designate of such action. If the proper venue is in another
court, the clerk, upon request, shall transmit such will to such court,
but before such transmission, the clerk shall make a true copy thereof
and retain the same in the clerk's files. 633.289
