Article 2 - Proof of Will

California Probate Code — §§ 8220-8226

Sections (7)

Enacted by Stats. 1990, Ch. 79.

Unless there is a contest of a will:

(a)The will may be proved on the evidence of one of the subscribing witnesses only, if the evidence shows that the will was executed in all particulars as prescribed by law.

(b)Evidence of execution of a will may be received by an affidavit of a subscribing witness to which there is attached a photographic copy of the will, or by an affidavit in the original will that includes or incorporates the attestation clause.

(c)If no subscribing witness resides in the county, but the deposition of a witness can be taken elsewhere, the court may direct the deposition to be taken. On the examination, the court may authorize a photographic copy of the will to be made and presented to the witness, and the witness may be asked the same questions with respect to the photographic copy as if the original will were present.

§ 8221

Enacted by Stats. 1990, Ch. 79.

If no subscribing witness is available as a witness within the meaning of Section 240 of the Evidence Code, the court may, if the will on its face conforms to all requirements of law, permit proof of the will by proof of the handwriting of the testator and one of the following:

(a)Proof of the handwriting of any one subscribing witness.

(b)Receipt in evidence of one of the following documents reciting facts showing due execution of the will:

(1)A writing in the will bearing the signatures of all subscribing witnesses.

(2)An affidavit of a person with personal knowledge of the circumstances of the execution.

§ 8222

Enacted by Stats. 1990, Ch. 79.

A holographic will may be proved in the same manner as other writings.

§ 8223

Enacted by Stats. 1990, Ch. 79.

The petition for probate of a lost or destroyed will shall include a written statement of the testamentary words or their substance. If the will is proved, the provisions of the will shall be set forth in the order admitting the will to probate.

§ 8224

Enacted by Stats. 1990, Ch. 79.

The testimony of each witness in a proceeding concerning the execution or provisions of a will, the testamentary capacity of the decedent, and other issues of fact, may be reduced to writing, signed by the witness, and filed, whether or not the will is contested. The testimony so preserved, or an official reporter’s transcript of the testimony, is admissible in evidence in any subsequent proceeding concerning the will if the witness has become unavailable as a witness within the meaning of Section 240 of the Evidence Code.

§ 8225

Enacted by Stats. 1990, Ch. 79.

When the court admits a will to probate, that fact shall be recorded in the minutes by the clerk and the will shall be filed.

§ 8226

Amended by Stats. 1997, Ch. 724, Sec. 19. Effective January 1, 1998.

(a)If no person contests the validity of a will or petitions for revocation of probate of the will within the time provided in this chapter, admission of the will to probate is conclusive, subject to Section 8007.

(b)Subject to subdivision (c), a will may be admitted to probate notwithstanding prior admission to probate of another will or prior distribution of property in the proceeding. The will may not affect property previously distributed, but the court may determine how any provision of the will affects property not yet distributed and how any provision of the will affects provisions of another will.

(c)If the proponent of a will has received notice of a petition for probate or a petition for letters of administration for a general personal representative, the proponent of the will may petition for probate of the will only within the later of either of the following time periods:

(1)One hundred twenty days after issuance of the order admitting the first will to probate or determining the decedent to be intestate.

(2)Sixty days after the proponent of the will first obtains knowledge of the will.