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Is an ‘oral will’ valid?
An Oral Will is a spoken Will. This means that the person making the Will just says out loud to someone else how he or she wants property to be distributed. Because there is a strong possibility of fraud, misunderstanding, or mistake in this kind of situation, Oral Wills usually are not valid. An Oral Will is generally only recognized when made by members of the military or merchant marine in active service in a time of conflict. People in a war situation may not have time to prepare a written Will and have it properly executed, so the law will sometimes follow their wishes if they tell someone what they want done with their property.
In most other circumstances, to use the old joke, "An Oral Will is not worth the paper it is printed on." If someone tells you he or she wants you to have the family silver or the car or a diamond necklace, you aren’t going to be able to claim that was an Oral Will and get what was promised to you. These kinds of gifts need to be made in writing. Even if the person really wanted you to have the diamond necklace at the time she spoke to you, she might have changed her mind an hour later. For this reason many states have laws requiring promises to make or change a Will, not to make a Will, or to include a certain provision in a Will, be made in writing. Our advice is NEVER RELY ON AN ORAL WILL OR ORAL AGREEMENTS OR STATEMENTS ABOUT A WILL OR TRUST. Get it in writing, preferably with legal counsel to assist you. |
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