Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas

Legal Witnesses to a will and/or power of attny

My father in law recently passed away after being taken off life support. On the day before, his wife of 7 weeks had a will devised that all but disinherited his sons and left the good sized estate and retirement fund to herself. The will was supposedly signed by my father (who could not even breath on his on) and witnessed and notarized by her in-laws from a previous marriage. Can an ex-in-law legally act as notary or witness to a will?


Asked on 5/11/01, 7:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Leon David L. Leon, P.C.

Re: Legal Witnesses to a will and/or power of attny

I'm sorry to hear about your father. As for the issue, you may have some sort of undue influence claim, or perhaps a fraud claim, or a lack of capacity claim to set aside that will. As for the notary, so long as the notary doesn't have a pecuniary interest in the document, I don't see a problem (unless you are claiming that the notary participated in a fraud) There may be another problem if the witness is a beneficiary under the terms of the will.

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Answered on 6/21/01, 12:20 pm


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