Q: Is a will valid with only one living witness if not contested?
My mom passed away in 2010, and my sister said there was a will, which she witnessed as one of the two witnesses. It took years for me to locate the will, but I eventually found it and filed it at the clerk's office. Since then, the other witness has passed away, leaving only my sister as the surviving witness. I have two other siblings, neither of whom is contesting the will. My sister, who was a witness, is only interested in helping get the property in my name. Is the will valid with only one living witness, considering my mom left her home to me?
A: Yes a will can be admitted to probate if one or more of the witnesses is deceased. If the will is self-proving, meaning that certain attestation clauses are included in the signature area, then witnesses are not contacted in the probate case at all. If that attestation clause is absent, then the living witness can sign an oath of witness to will in front of the clerk of court. If living witness is not available, then a disinterested person such as your attorney can sign a proof of will in front of the clerk of court.
Phillip William Gunthert agrees with this answer
A: You will want to have a copy of the Will reviewed by a Florida Probate Attorney, but as long as the Will is validly executed, it does not matter if a witness is since deceased. A copy of the property deed will be helpful as well in order to have that reviewed along with the Will, based on the circumstances and what still needs to be done, a Florida Probate Attorney will be able to help you with the probate, likely since it has been more than 2 years since your mom passed away you will be able to do a Summary Administration Probate instead of a Formal Probate (think generally faster and more efficient with a Summary Administration), also, special filing swill be required related to the property if it was your mom's Homestead Property, but this will get the property out of probate and into your name faster as well based on the circumstances. You will need a Florida Probate Attorney to address and advise these various matters in your mom's probate and related to this property. Since there are no issues with family or contested matters this should be a problem related to the probate generally speaking.
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