(a) A holographic will is one that is written, dated and signed by the hand of the testator himself. No formalities are necessary for its making or execution except as set forth in this subsection, and it need not be witnessed.

(b) The following may be disregarded by the Superior Court of Guam if immaterial to the sense and effectiveness of a holographic will which otherwise complies with the requirements of subsection (a) of this Section:

(1) Any matter printed, stamped, or otherwise mechanically or electronically placed upon the document by any person prior to its execution;

(2) Any matter written upon the document by any person other than the testator prior to its execution; and

(3) Any matter added to the document by any person other than the testator after its execution.

(c) A testator who makes and executes a holographic will may thereafter make holographic changes on, or holographic codicils to, such will without the necessity of signing or dating such will at the time such

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changes or codicils are made; provided, that sufficient evidence, whether intrinsic or extrinsic to such will, exists to show that the testator intended such changes or codicils to be a part of his will.

SOURCE: Guam Law Revision Commission.

COMMENT: The Commission has drafted § 207 along general lines suggested by Professor Lowell Turrentine in his “Introduction to the California Probate Code,” which appears in West’s Annotated California Code — Probate Code, §§ 1 to 399, at page 1 et seq. In this lengthy and excellent introduction, Professor Turrentine makes a number of suggestions for the improvement of various specific sections of the California Probate Code, including its provisions concerning holographic wills. See p. 37, where Professor Turrentine states:

Probate Code § 53 should be amended to provide that in holographic wills, matter of a non-holographic nature, even though found in the body of the will, may be disregarded if immaterial to the sense and effectiveness of the will, or if added after execution by someone other than the testator with or without the testator’s authority. * * * The amendment might go on to provide that holographic changes on, or holographic codicils to, a holographic will may be made by the testator after execution of the will without re-signing and re-dating, provided there is sufficient intrinsic or extrinsic evidence of the testator’s intent that such changes or codicils be a part of his will.

Section 207 incorporates into one Section all of the amendments suggested by Professor Turrentine. Its most obvious effect is to liberalize considerably the law concerning the validity of holographic wills, particularly in its allowing the court to consider –and either accept or disregard — materials in the body of a holographic will which are not necessarily in the testator’s own handwriting. Moreover, subsection (c) — which allows the maker of a holographic will to add holographic changes or codicils thereto — is completely new, and serves to liberalize the law concerning holographic wills even further.