08 Jun Alterations added after a Will is signed are ineffective
Decedent’s niece sought to probate a 2014 instrument, asking the Court to exclude handwritten alterations in to the will. The attorney draftsman’s affidavit stated decedent signed the instrument in her presence and it contained no handwritten material. Surrogate Malave-Gonzalez ruled that the handwritten notations were added after the Will was signed and thus, did not comply with the statutory formalities The Will was granted probate without the hand written language. The law is very clear that you can not alter a Will after it has been signed. The biggest problem occurs when a will is located that has handwritten material and there is no witness who can say when the hand written material was added- or witnesses disagree. Especially in this age of access to computers there is no reason to make hand written changes to a Will before it is executed.
Matter of Estate of Hutchinson