Last Will and Testament for Single Person with Adult Children
Note: This summary is not intended
to be an all-inclusive discussion of the law of wills in New Jersey, but
does contain basic and other information. This summary does not include
a discussion of handwritten wills.
Persons competent to make a will: Any person
18 or more years of age who is of sound mind may make a will. 3B:3-1.
Formal execution of will: A will
shall be in writing, signed by the testator, and shall be signed by at
least two persons each of whom witnessed either the signing or the testator's
acknowledgment of the signature or of the will. 3B:3-2.
Who may witness a will: Any person generally
competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will and to testify
concerning the execution thereof. 3B:3-7.
Will not invalidated if signed by interested witness:
A will or any provision thereof is not invalid because the will is signed
by an interested witness. 3B:3-8.
Laws determining valid execution of will:
A written will is validly executed if executed in compliance with New Jersey
law, or its execution was in compliance with the law of the place where
it was executed, or with the law of the place where at the time of execution
or at the time of death the testator was domiciled, had a place of abode
or was a national. 3B:3-9.
Incorporation by reference: Any writing
in existence when a will is executed may be incorporated by reference if
the language of the will manifests this intent and describes the writing
sufficiently to permit its identification. 3B:3-10.
Identifying devise of tangible personal property by separate
writing: A will may refer to a written statement
or list to dispose of items of tangible personal property not otherwise
specifically disposed of by the will, other than money, evidences of indebtedness,
documents of title, and securities and property used in trade or business.
To be admissible under this section as evidence of the intended disposition,
the writing must be either in the handwriting of the testator or be signed
by him and must describe the items and the devisees with reasonable certainty.
The writing may be referred to as one to be in existence at the
time of the testator's death: it may be prepared before or after the execution
of the will; it may be altered by the testator after its preparation; and
it may be a writing which has no significance apart from its effect upon
the dispositions made by the will. 3B:3-11.
Revocation by acts of testator: A will
or any part thereof is revoked:
a. By a subsequent will which revokes the former will or
part expressly or by inconsistency; or
b. By being burned, torn, canceled, obliterated, or destroyed with
the intent and for the purpose of revoking by the testator or by another
person in his presence and by his direction. 3B:3-13.
Revocation by divorce or annulment; revival by remarriage
to former spouse: If after having executed a will
the testator is divorced or his marriage annulled, the divorce or annulment
revokes any dispositions or appointment of property made by the will to
the former spouse, any provision conferring a general or special power
of appointment on the former spouse, and any nomination of the former spouse
as executor, trustee, or guardian, unless the will expressly provides otherwise.
Property prevented from passing to a former spouse because of revocation
by divorce or annulment passes as if the former spouse failed to survive
the decedent, and other provisions conferring some power or office on the
former spouse are interpreted as if the spouse failed to survive the decedent.
A judgment from bed and board is a divorce
for the purpose of this section. If provisions are revoked solely
by this section, they are revived by testator's remarriage to the former
spouse or by the revocation or suspension of a judgment of divorce from
bed and board. No change of circumstances other than as described in this
section revokes a will. 3B:3-14.
