North Dakota Code 30.1-08-02 – (2-502) Execution – Witnessed wills – Holographic wills
1. Except as provided in subsection 2 and in sections 30.1-08-06 and 30.1-08-13, a will must be:
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 30.1-08-02
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Individual: means a human being. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
a. In writing.
b. Signed by the testator or in the testator’s name by some other individual in the testator’s conscious presence and by the testator’s direction.
c. Either signed:
(1) By at least two individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after witnessing either the signing of the will as described in subdivision b or the testator’s acknowledgment of that signature or acknowledgment of the will; or
(2) Acknowledged by the testator before a notary public or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments.
2. A will that does not comply with subsection 1 is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and material portions of the document are in the testator’s handwriting.
3. Intent that a document constitute the testator’s will can be established by extrinsic evidence, including, for holographic wills, portions of the document that are not in the testator’s handwriting.