Then, after the testator signs, is the printed will valid?
Confirmation of the validity of printed wills in judicial practice
The validity of printing wills is controversial in practice, and there is no clear legal provision at present.
A will is an important legal document. The so-called necessary legal documents mean that the law has clear and formal provisions on the writing or writing of such documents.
In the current effective laws and regulations, there are only five forms of wills: self-written wills, proxy wills, notarized wills, recorded wills and oral wills, and printed wills are not among them.
This is because People's Republic of China (PRC)'s inheritance law was promulgated from 1985. At that time, there were no computers, but now times have changed.
Although the law does not clearly stipulate the validity of printed wills, in practice, printed wills have not been uniformly judged as invalid.
In judicial practice, according to the production process of printed wills, the court will judge the effectiveness of printed wills according to the requirements of these two legal wills:
1. I wrote my own will
Printed wills are formed by the testator's own editing and printing on the computer, and are generally regarded as self-written wills.
People's Republic of China (PRC) inheritance law
Article 17 ... A self-made will shall be written, signed and marked by the testator. ……
According to the provisions of China's inheritance law, the self-made will should be written by the testator, and printing the will obviously does not meet the requirements of handwritten full text.
At this time, although there are formal flaws in the elements of the printed will compared with the self-written will, it can be considered as the true meaning of the testator and an effective self-written will.
The court will examine whether the testator's autograph is printed and indicate the year, month, day, etc. Combined with the testator's educational level, computer operation skills and other factors. If there is no evidence to prove that the testator is unable to make a printed will or that the contents of the will are not the true meaning of the testator, the printed will can be considered as a valid self-written will.
write a will
Wills edited and printed by others on behalf of computers are generally judged according to the requirements of testamentary writing.
People's Republic of China (PRC) inheritance law
Article 17 ..... A will that entrusts another person to write on behalf of the testator shall be witnessed by two or more witnesses, and one of them shall write on behalf of the testator, indicating the year, month and day, and shall be signed by the agent, other witnesses and the testator. ……
According to the inheritance law of our country, the testator's will is not required to be written by the testator himself. The testator can record the will by writing or computer editing and printing.
At this time, the court will examine whether the printed will is witnessed by two or more unrelated witnesses. One of them will write on behalf of the book, indicating the year, month and day, and be signed by the person who wrote on behalf of the book, other witnesses and the testator. If the form meets the testator's will requirements, and there is no evidence to prove that the content of the will is not the testator's true will, the printed will can be considered as a valid testator's will.
Legislation will determine the legal status of printing wills.
In the published People's Republic of China (PRC) Civil Code (Draft), printed wills have a place.
People's Republic of China (PRC) Civil Code (Draft)
Article 136 A printed will shall be witnessed by two or more witnesses.
The testator and the witness shall sign on each page of the will and indicate the year, month and day.
In the Draft Civil Code of People's Republic of China (PRC), the requirement of printing wills is actually stipulated by analogy with the requirement of writing wills, which requires more than two witnesses to witness, excluding the way of making printed wills in the form of writing wills.
Because printed wills are printed by electronic documents, if only the last page is required to be signed in the case of multi-page wills, the previous page may be tampered with, so the testator and witnesses are required to sign each page of the printed will and indicate the year, month and day.
However, this is still only a clause in the draft, which has not yet come into effect and been implemented. Only after the Civil Code of People's Republic of China (PRC) is officially issued can the essential requirements for printing wills be determined.
Special reminders when making and printing wills
1. When making an independent will, try to write it by hand;
2. If you still want to make a printed will separately, it is suggested that the whole process of editing, printing and signing be recorded, and the recording and video recording should be properly kept together with the printed will;
3. When you ask others to print it for you, make it according to the will; For the sake of safety, the testator and all witnesses printed their signatures on each page, and indicated the year, month and day.
The following circumstances will invalidate the printed will:
1. The signature and date of the written will are printed, not signed by the testator and marked with the year, month and day;
2. Ask others, such as employees of the printing house, to help edit and print the will, but no other witnesses are present, or the person or witness who printed it on behalf of him did not sign the will and indicate the year, month and day.