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Most adults who live in Arizona moved here from other states. Many brought their wills with them. If you are one of those, you may have questions about the validity in Arizona of wills drafted in other states. For example, assume you lived in Minnesota in 1990. In that year, a Minnesota lawyer prepared wills for you and your spouse. In 1995, the two of you moved to Arizona. If your wills were drafted and signed in compliance with Minnesota law in 1990, and if you have not revoked them, they remain valid in Arizona today. Obviously, it is critical that your wills met the legal requirements for will drafting and execution under the applicable 1990 Minnesota law. If a lawyer prepared your will for you, chances are excellent that it met all legal requirements of the state in which it was drafted. Many people, however, no longer rely on lawyers to prepare wills for them. In Arizona, you can hand-write your own will. This is called a holographic will. You also may fill in the blanks on a printed-form will. These forms are widely available at office-supply stores and bookstores throughout the state. They also are free on this website. If you write your own will, or if you use a form document, you run a higher risk that your will may not comply with all the legal requirements. When a court declares a will to be invalid, the will-maker's estate is distributed as if the maker died without a will. However, if an earlier unrevoked will is located, it may control, under certain circumstances, the distribution of estate assets. If you have doubts or questions about the validity of any will, consult an attorney experienced in these matters. It may be less expensive to prepare a new will in Arizona than to employ a lawyer here to determine whether your will complies with the laws of another state. Perhaps I have told you more than you want to know about the validity of wills. There remains a short answer to the question "Is my will, drafted in another state, valid in Arizona?" If it was valid there, it will be valid here. |