Will Formalities in Louisiana: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

• Author: Ronald J. Scalise Jr.
• Position: John Minor Wisdom Professor of Civil Law, Tulane University Law School
• Pages: 1334-1439

Louisiana Law Review Louisiana Law Review

Volume 80

Number 4

Summer 2020

Article 9

11-11-2020

Will Formalities in Louisiana: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Will Formalities in Louisiana: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Ronald J. Scalise Jr.

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Repository Citation Repository Citation

Ronald J. Scalise Jr.,

Will Formalities in Louisiana: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

, 80 La. L. Rev. (2020)

Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev/vol80/iss4/9

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at LSU Law Digital

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Will Formalities in Louisiana: Yesterday, Today, and

Tomorrow

Ronald J. Scalise, Jr.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ................................................................................ 1332

I. A (Very Brief) History of Wills in the United States................. 1333

A. Functions of Form Requirements ........................................ 1335

B. The Law of Yesterday: The Development of

Louisiana’s Will Forms ....................................................... 1337

II. Compliance with Formalities ..................................................... 1343

A. The Slow Migration from “Strict Compliance” to

“Substantial Compliance” to “Harmless Error”

in the United States.............................................................. 1344

B. Compliance in Other Jurisdictions,

Civil and Common............................................................... 1352

III. The Law of Today: Common Features of Notarial

and Olographic Wills in Louisiana............................................. 1356

A. Writing ................................................................................ 1356

B. Signature ..............................................................................1361

1. What Is a Signature? ..................................................... 1363

2. Location of the Signature .............................................. 1367

C. Date….................................................................................. 1371

1. What Is a Date? ............................................................. 1371

2. Location of the Date...................................................... 1373

3. The Need for a Date? .................................................... 1374

Copyright 2020, by RONALD J. SCALISE, JR.

 John Minor Wisdom Professor of Civil Law, Tulane University Law

School. The author also serves as the Reporter for both the Trust Code Committee

and the Successions and Donations Committee of the Louisiana State Law

to the author. The author wishes to express his gratitude to Sally Richardson,

Edward Chase, Raphael de Barros Fritz, Joseph Mengis, and Monica Wallace for

helpful comments on earlier drafts of this Article. An earlier version of this Article

was presented at the Louisiana State Bar Association seminar on Estate Planning .

Thanks are due to the participants and organizers of that conference.

Institute. The views expressed herein, as well as any errors, are attributable solely

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1332 LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 80

IV. Special Requirements of Olographic Wills................................ 1379

A. Handwriting ......................................................................... 1382

B. “Entirely” in the Testator’s Handwriting............................. 1383

V. Special Requirements of Notarial Wills..................................... 1386

A. Signed at the End of Each Page and at the

End of the Testament........................................................... 1386

B. Executed in the Presence of a Notary and

Two Witnesses..................................................................... 1391

1. The “Presence” Requirement ........................................ 1391

2. The Notarial Requirement............................................. 1396

3. The Witness Requirement ............................................. 1400

a. Capacity to Be a Witness........................................ 1400

b. “Disinterested” Witnesses ...................................... 1402

c. “Two” Witnesses and Supernumerary

Witnesses................................................................ 1405

C. Publication: Declared by the Testator to

Be His Will .......................................................................... 1407

D. The Attestation Clause......................................................... 1409

VI. Special Notarial Wills ................................................................ 1416

A. Literate and Sighted but Physically Unable to Sign ............ 1416

B. Unable to Read .................................................................... 1418

C. Braille… .............................................................................. 1420

D. Deaf or Deaf and Blind........................................................ 1420

VII. The Law of Tomorrow: The Coming of Digital or

Electronic Wills?........................................................................ 1424

A. What Is an Electronic Will?................................................. 1424

B. Existing Law........................................................................ 1425

1. Nevada and Florida ....................................................... 1425

2. Indiana and Arizona ...................................................... 1428

C. Uniform Electronic Wills Act.............................................. 1429

D. Conflicts of Law Issues ....................................................... 1430

Conclusion.................................................................................. 1433

INTRODUCTION

It is well known and commonly understood that Louisiana maintains

a mixed or hybrid legal system that blends both elements of common and