The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-01-20
THE MAKING OF A WILL.

Any person of sound mind and legal
age may arrange for the final dispo-
sition of his property after death by
making will, although in some states
married women are not permitted to
make Wills without the consent Of
their husbands, and in other states the
will of an unmarried woman is re-
voked by her subsequent marriage I'M
less she takes such legal steps before
the marriage as will enable her to re-
tain the right to dispose of her prop
erty after that event.
The form or wording of will is
immaterial so long as the intent OF
the testator is clearly expressed. To
assure it's probate, however, a will
should be in writing, and should be
signed by the testator or by some
other person in his presence and by
his direction, and should be witnessed
by the number of persons required by
law, all of whom must sign their
names in the presence of the testator,
and at his request, and the testator
must at the time tell them that it is
his last will
AS will is not in force until after
the death of testator he may cancel
or change it at any time, or he may
change or modify his former bequests
in a codicil, which should be executed
with as great care as the will itself.
Naturally, the last will annuls all for
mer documents unless it be an addi-
ton to them, but it is advisable for
the testator to clearly state his pur-
pose to revoke all former wills by
him made, if such is his intention.
In making will the testator should
first provide for the payment Of all his
just debts and funeral expenses, after
which the various requests should be
enumerated clearly and concisely. II
the property bequeathed is in any way
encountered with debts these must be
paid before the balance can be dis
tributed among the benefciaries in
accordance with the provisions of the
will
While no husband can deprive
wife of her dover right" in his estate,
which is a life estate in "one-third Of
the husbands real estate" he may
make additional requests to her, or
may will her certain amount In
place of her dover" specifying this
to be his intention. Even this, how
ever. does not deprive her Of her
DOVER" provided, she prefers the
right of dover to the stipulated be-
quest.
The age at which persons arg law
fully able to make will differs in the
various states. In most of the states
and territories a person must be
twenty-one years of age, In Califor-
mia, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Mon
tana, Nevada, North Dakota, Okla
homa, South Dakota and Utah both
males and females who are eighteen
years old may make wills disposing Of
all their property; in Colorado, Dis
trict of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland,
Missouri and Wisconsin females may
only dispose of real estate by will
when eighteen years of age.
The laws in regard to the disposal
Of personal property, however, are
different. In Alabama, Arkansas,
Missouri, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vir-
ginia and West Virginia persons eight
cen years old may dispose of personal
property only, while in Georgia any
one over fourteen years, in Louisiana
any one over sixteen, in Colorado
those over seventeen and in New York
males of eighteen and females of six
teen years of age are legally COM
petent to dispose of personal property
by will.
In nearly all the states the law re-
Quires that wills shall be witnessed by
two persons. The variations from this
rule, however, are as follows: Con-
necticut requires three; District of
Columbia, three or four, and Maine,
Massachusetts. New Hamnshire South