A will is a document written by a person during his lifetime and which stipulates his wishes in terms of succession concerning his property or which expresses the wish to protect one or more persons he designates, wishes which will have to be applied after his death. These intentions thus written on paper can be modified or canceled by its author as long as he is alive. A will, even written for a long time, can also be the subject of a request for cancellation by the heirs of the person who wrote it, but in very specific situations. This type of cancellation must go through a legal procedure.
A will designates a writing in which a person, called the testator, expresses his last wishes, that is to say the precise conditions of the organization of his succession that he wishes to see respected after his death. Any person of full age, or a minor over the age of 16 under certain conditions, can draw up a will from the moment they have the mental capacities which allow discernment and a sufficiently enlightened will, as well as the "legal capacity", i.e. ability to have rights and obligations and to exercise them. A will essentially concerns the person who writes it, and not, for example, his spouse.
A will most often describes how to transmit one's property (houses, apartments, land, furniture, vehicles, paintings, etc.) after one's death and how to distribute them among one or more beneficiaries called legatees.
A will can also designate an executor, that is to say a person who will be responsible for carrying out his last wishes. In this document, it is also possible to mention their expectations in terms of organ donation, funeral arrangements, appointing a guardian for their children, or recognizing a child.
There are two options for writing a will. The latter must always take the form of a written document, but it can be drawn up alone by the testator or before a notary. Done alone, we then speak of a holographic will. It must be written by hand, be precisely dated and signed and its drafting does not incur any costs. Its author can keep it himself or deposit it with a notary. In any case, it is advisable to inform someone you trust of the existence of a holographic will because if no one is able to know its reality, it cannot be executed after your death. .
A will can also be drawn up before a notary. It is then called an authentic will. In this case, the testator dictates his wishes to the notary in the presence of 2 witnesses or another notary. This type of will involves paying notary fees.
Note:the authentic will is mandatory if this document mentions the recognition of a child.
In the event that you submit a holographic will to a notary (the latter will charge you what is called "custody fees") or that you go through a type of authentic will, within 3 months of the death of the testator, the notary registers the document in the central file of the dispositions of last wills (FCDDV) which makes it possible to prove the existence of a will.
A will only takes effect when the person who wrote it dies. Consequently, the testator has every opportunity, during his lifetime, to modify it at any time, in whole or in part, or to cancel it. Any new will cancels the old one written.
If it is a holographic will, it can simply be destroyed. In the case of an authentic will, you have the possibility of making a deed of declaration of change of will before a notary.
In some cases, it is possible for the heirs to cancel the will of a deceased person. This process must take the form of a judicial annulment. The heirs must indeed request the cancellation of the will from the courts by means of an act of a bailiff called a summons.
The request for cancellation of a will by the heirs is a situation that can arise in two specific cases. This step, in fact, is first possible in the event of non-performance of the obligations provided for by the will, that is to say when the deceased has provided that his legatees are obliged to perform certain duties such as, for example, paying an annuity to a person designated by him. If the legatees do not respect the will of the testator, the heirs of the latter then have the possibility of requesting the cancellation of the will in court, more precisely with the judicial or local court. They have 5 years from the day the legatees do not perform their duties to take legal action. Then, it is the judge who determines if the facts are serious enough to justify the cancellation of the will.
Heirs can also request the cancellation of a will from a judge in the event of "ingratitude". A situation that occurs if the legatee or legatees are at the origin of one of the following acts:attempted murder of one of the heirs, offences, insults or severe abuse against the heirs or serious injury to the memory heirs. In these situations, the heirs have a period of one year from the establishment of the facts to take legal action to try to have the will in question annulled.
