A will was drawn up before a notary who read it to the testator and confirmed it with his signature and seal, but the notary’s approval recorded that the testator read the will herself, the serial number was not specified, the will was not kept in the notary’s register of wills, and the fee for drawing up the will was not specified.
The court ruled that the defects are not defects in the basic elements of the will and therefore the will is valid. There are several ways to draw up a will, one of which is to draw it up before a notary. The basic elements of a will are that the will was made before a notary or submitted to the notary by the testator himself. The Notaries Law and the regulations under it add requirements such as specifying the serial number and making payment for the will, but these are not basic elements. Here, the will was drawn up before a notary, was lawfully called to probate and therefore the basic elements of the will were met. Therefore, although there was a defect in the notary’s conduct, these are not fundamental defects that cannot be corrected and the will is valid.
