Seems like I remember that handwritten wills don't need to be witnessed or notarized.
Good catch. I just looked it up and there are exceptions in various states for “holographic” (imminent death) wills handwritten without witnesses.
There was a court case years ago, involving a farmer who rolled his tractor, and became pinned underneath. Something like that. He scrawled “All to mother” in blood on a fender before he died, and the court ruled this was a legal last will and testament.
Still, a notarized will should outrank anything found underneath the couch.
Having experienced that scenario personally, I can assure you that’s correct.
And it’s astounding.
What’s stopping you, me, or the next door neighbor from successfully producing a “will” drawn up by Warren Buffett on a napkin, leaving us everything?
Based on my personal experience (although I walked away), apparently nothing.