Certifying a Copy of a Will and the Death of the Testator
A woman brings to a notary an envelope containing her late father's handwritten will, dated 2018, and asks the notary to certify a true copy of it so she can give the copy to her brother. She explains that the original was found in the father's desk after his death two weeks ago. The will leaves the family house to her and a sum of BGN 30,000 to her brother, but the brother has threatened to contest it. The notary notices that the will is written on two sheets, only the second of which is signed and dated, and that a paragraph on the first sheet appears to have been altered with correction fluid. The daughter asks the notary to 'certify it as it is' and to keep the original in the notary's archive. She also wants a certification that the copy conforms to the original for use in a bank.
1. Can the notary certify a copy of this document, and what must be recorded about its condition?
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The notary may certify a transcript or copy only of a document presented and only in the condition in which it is presented. The notary is not a validator of the will's legal effect. However, the notary must describe faithfully what is seen, including that the document consists of two sheets, that only the second bears a signature and date, and that the first sheet shows visible alterations. A copy certification that conceals these features would be misleading. The notary should therefore either decline to certify until the condition is documented in the certification clause, or prepare a transcript that notes the number of sheets, the placement of the signature and the visible corrections. The notary should also warn the daughter that a copy certification does not establish the will's validity or defeat a later contest.
2. Should the notary accept the original for safekeeping, and how does the death of the testator affect the notary's role?
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The notary may accept a document for safekeeping only under the applicable deposit rules, and should issue a receipt describing the envelope and its contents. But the notary should not treat the deposit as a substitute for the proper procedure for a will. Since the testator has died, the will must be dealt with in the succession proceedings: the notary acting as succession officer should be informed, and the will should be presented in the inheritance case so that it can be considered together with any other wills. The notary should not keep the only original in a private archive in a way that obstructs the court or the succession officer. The safer course is to make a certified transcript, return or deposit the original under a documented regime, and advise the daughter to initiate the inheritance proceedings promptly.
3. What should the notary tell the daughter about the bank's request for a certified copy?
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The notary should explain that a certified copy is evidence of conformity between the copy and the document presented, not of the document's legal force. The bank may accept it as proof of the will's contents, but the bank will make its own decision about the will's effect. The notary should prepare the copy with a clause identifying the document, the number of sheets, the visible alterations and the date of certification, and should keep a record in the notarial register. The notary should also caution the daughter that giving her brother a copy does not prevent a contest, and that any challenge will be resolved in the succession proceedings, where the original and the notary's observations may matter.