3B:3-2  Execution; witnessed wills; writings intended as wills.

3B:3-2. Execution; witnessed wills; writings intended as wills.

a.Except as provided in subsection b. and in N.J.S.3B:3-3, a will shall be:

(1)in writing;

(2)signed by the testator or in the testator’s name by some other individual in the testator’s conscious presence and at the testator’s direction; and

(3)signed by at least two individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after each witnessed either the signing of the will as described in paragraph (2) or the testator’s acknowledgment of that signature or acknowledgment of the will.

b.A will that does not comply with subsection a. is valid as a writing intended as a will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and material portions of the document are in the testator’s handwriting.

c.Intent that the document constitutes the testator’s will can be established by extrinsic evidence, including for writings intended as wills, portions of the document that are not in the testator’s handwriting.

L.1981, c.405, s.3B:3-2, eff. May 1, 1982; amended 2004, c.132, s.9; 2005, c.160, s.2.