Goff

Shortly before his death, Timothy Kirk Saueressig prepared his will, without the help of a lawyer, leaving his property to three friends. The majority holds that Saueressig’s will is invalid, and his property cannot go to the friends he named as his beneficiaries, because he failed to comply with a requirement that appears nowhere in the applicable statutes. I dissent.

The facts of this case are undisputed. On December 26, 2000, Timothy Saueressig typed his will, which left his property to his friends, Scott Smith, Harry Ernst, and Cliff Thomas, and named Smith as his executor. Saueressig had no brothers or sisters and his parents were deceased. He never married and had no children. To his beneficiaries’ knowledge, he had “no known next of kin.”

Saueressig took the will to his friends Joongok Shin and her husband Theodore Boody at the Mail Boxes Etc. franchise that Shin owned to have Shin notarize his will. Saueressig explained to them that he had drafted his will to eliminate one of the beneficiaries under a previous will. Boody watched as Saueressig signed the will and Shin notarized his signature.

*1058 Saueressig delivered a copy of the will to Smith, who kept it until…

*1047 Opinion

A will that meets statutory requirements is effective upon the testator’s death. (Cook v. Cook (1941) 17 Cal.2d 639, 646 [ 111 P.2d 322 ] (Cook); Estate of Lopes (1984) 152 Cal.App.3d 302, 305 [ 199 Cal.Rptr. 425 ] (Lopes).) Probate Code section 6110 requires a will be signed by two witnesses. 1 The question here is whether the signature of a witness affixed after the testator’s death satisfies the statute. We conclude that such postdeath subscription is not permitted, and reverse the contrary Court of Appeal judgment.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

On December 26, 2000, Timothy Kirk Saueressig asked Joongok Shin, a notary public, to notarize the execution of his will. 3 Ms. Shin did so, and Saueressig delivered copies to Scott Smith and Harry Ernst. Under the will, Smith was named executor. He, Ernst, and Cliff Thomas were beneficiaries.

Saueressig died in August 2002. In October, Smith filed a petition to probate the will, supported by a proof of subscribing witness, executed by Ms. Shin. Smith argued that, although the will was typewritten, it qualified as a holographic will. Smith based the claim on the fact that the typed will was found in an…