Last Will and Testament for Single Person with Adult and Minor Children
Note: This summary is not intended to be an all-inclusive
discussion of the law of wills in Minnesota, but does contain basic and
other provisions. It does not include a discussion of handwritten
wills or wills where the testator cannot sign his or her name.
Who may make a will: Any person 18 or more
years of age who is of sound mind may make a will. 524.2-501
Execution; witnessed wills: A will must be in
writing, signed by the testator and
signed by at least two individuals after witnessing the signing
of the will by the testator. 524.2-502
Self-proved will: A will may be contemporaneously
executed, attested, and made self-proved, by acknowledgment thereof by
the testator and affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer
authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which execution
occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under official seal,
by appropriate form. The will form you have located contains the self proving
affidavit. 524.2-504
Who may witness: An individual generally
competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will. The signing
of a will by an interested witness does not invalidate the will or any
provision of it. 524.2-505
Choice of law as to execution: A written
will is valid if executed in compliance with Minnesota law or if its execution
complies with the law at the time of execution of the place where the will
is executed, or of the law of the place where at the time of execution
or at the time of death the testator is domiciled, has a place of abode
or is a national. 524.2-507
Revocation by writing or by act: A
will or any part thereof is revoked:
(1) by executing a subsequent will that revokes the previous
will or part expressly or by inconsistency; or
(2) by performing a revocatory act on the will, if the testator
performed the act with the intent and for the purpose of revoking the will
or part or if another individual performed the act in the testator's conscious
presence and by the testator's direction. For purposes of this clause,
"revocatory act on the will" includes burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating,
or destroying the will or any part of it. A burning, tearing, or
canceling may be a "revocatory act on the will," whether or not the burn,
tear, or cancellation touched any of the words on the will. 524.2-506
Deposit of will with court in testator's lifetime:
A will may be deposited by the testator or the testator's agent with any
court for safekeeping, under rules of the court. The will must be sealed
and kept confidential. During the testator's lifetime, a deposited
will must be delivered only to the testator or to a person authorized in
writing signed by the testator to receive the will. A conservator
or guardian may be allowed to examine a deposited will of a protected testator
under procedures designed to maintain the confidential character of the
document to the extent possible, and to ensure that it will be resealed
and kept on deposit after the examination. Upon being informed of the testator's
death, the court may deliver the will to the appropriate court. 524.2-515
Penalty clause for contest: A provision
in a will purporting to penalize an interested person for contesting the
will or instituting other proceedings relating to the estate is unenforceable
if probable cause exists for instituting proceedings. 524.2-517
Contracts concerning succession: A contract
to make a will or devise, or not to revoke a will or devise, or to die
intestate, if executed after January 1, 1976, may be established only by
(i) provisions of a will stating material provisions of the contract,
(ii)
an express reference in a will to a contract and extrinsic evidence proving
the terms of the contract, or
(iii) a writing signed by the decedent evidencing
the contract. The execution of a joint will or mutual wills does
not create a presumption of a contract not to revoke the will or wills.
524.2-514
