Title 43

(a) A will or any part thereof is revoked by a subsequent will which revokes the prior will or part expressly or by inconsistency. (b) A will is revoked by being burned, torn, canceled, obliterated, or destroyed, with the intent and for the purpose of revoking it by the testator …

If after executing a will the testator is divorced or his or her marriage annulled, the divorce or annulment revokes any disposition or appointment of property made by the will to the former spouse, any provision conferring a general or special power of appointment on the former …

(a) If a second will which, had it remained effective at death, would have revoked the first will in whole or in part, is thereafter revoked by acts under Section 43-8-136, the first will is revoked in whole or in part unless it is evident from the circumstances of the revocation…

Any writing in existence when a will is executed may be incorporated by reference if the language of the will manifests this intent and describes the writing sufficiently to permit its identification. (Acts 1982, No. 82-399, §2-510.)

A devise or bequest, the validity of which is determinable by the law of this state, may be made by a will to the trustee of a trust established or to be established by the testator and some other person or by some other person (including a funded or unfunded life insurance trust…

A will may dispose of property by reference to acts and events which have significance apart from their effect upon the dispositions made by the will, whether they occur before or after the execution of the will or before or after the testator’s death. The execution or revocation…

Upon the death of a testator, any executor, devisee, or legatee named in the will, or any person interested in the estate, or who has custody of such will may have the will proved before the proper probate court. (Code 1852, §1620; Code 1867, §1939; Code 1876, §2303; Code 1886, §…

Wills shall not be effective unless filed for probate within five years from the date of the death of the testator. If the testator was not an inhabitant of this state at the time of his or her death, the will may be admitted to probate in this state pursuant to Section 43-8-175,…

Wills must be proved in the several probate courts as follows: (1) When the testator, at the time of his or her death, was an inhabitant of the county, in the probate court of such county. (2) When the testator, not being an inhabitant of the state, dies in the county, leaving as…

If the witnesses attesting the execution of any will are competent at the time of their attestation, their subsequent incompetency, from whatever cause it may arise, must not prevent the probate of such will, if otherwise satisfactorily proved. (Code 1852, §1612; Code 1867, §1931…

Whenever an application is made to prove a will in this state, at least 10 days’ notice must be given to the surviving spouse and next of kin, or either of them, residing and being within the state, before such application is heard. (Code 1852, §1632; Code 1867, §1951; Code 1876,…

If any of the next of kin are minors, such notice may be served as provided by the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure; and in addition to the service above provided for minors, the court must appoint a guardian ad litem who is disinterested and who shall be an attorney-at-law and w…

If either the surviving spouse or next of kin reside and are without the state, notice of such application must be given by publication once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper published in the county in which such application is made, and if no paper is published th…

(a) Wills offered for probate, except nuncupative wills, must be proved by one or more of the subscribing witnesses, or if they be dead, insane or out of the state or have become incompetent since the attestation, then by the proof of the handwriting of the testator, and that of …

When the subscribing witnesses, or any of them, reside out of the state, or are physically unable or in any case in which depositions are authorized to be taken in circuit court, the judge of probate may issue a commission to take the testimony of such witnesses in proof of such …

If it appears, on the proof taken before the judge of probate, that the will was duly executed, the testimony of the witnesses must be reduced to writing by him or her, signed by the witnesses and, with the will, immediately recorded in a book provided and kept for that purpose. …

Every will so proved must have a certificate endorsed thereon, setting forth in substance that such will had been duly proved and recorded, with the proof, specifying also the date of the probate, the book in and page or pages on which it is recorded. Such endorsement must be sig…

Every will, so proved or endorsed, may be read in evidence in any court of the state, without further proof thereof; and the record of such will and proof or a transcript thereof, certified by the judge of probate, must be received as evidence to the same extent as if the origina…

Any will which is not propounded for probate in this state within 12 months from the date of the death of the testator shall be inoperative and void as to bona fide purchasers, mortgagees, or pledgees (and those claiming under them) of property or any interest therein from the ex…

When any will is filed with the probate judge or in the probate court for the purpose of probating the same, and it becomes necessary to withdraw said will before it is probated, the probate judge shall have the same recorded in the book in which are recorded probated wills, but …

Whenever any will has been proved and recorded for six months in any county of this state, as required by this article, and such will is required to be proved out of this state, the judge of probate may, on the application of the executor, duly sworn to, allow him or her to withd…

When the testator was not, at the time of his or her death, an inhabitant of this state, but was an inhabitant of some other state or territory of the United States of America, or of some other territory, district, or country subject to the jurisdiction of the United States of Am…

A will, before the probate thereof, may be contested by any person interested therein, or by any person, who, if the testator had died intestate, would have been an heir or distributee of his or her estate, by filing in the court where it is offered for probate allegations in wri…

Upon the institution of such contest, a day must be appointed for the trial thereof, and the trial may, on good cause shown by either party, be continued to any other day; and the judge of probate must, on application of either party, issue subpoenas for witnesses to appear on th…

(a) The jury for the trial of such contest must be drawn and summoned as provided by law. (b) Any person summoned as a juror who shall, without legal cause or good excuse, fail to attend at the time and place required, shall be guilty of a contempt of court and may be punished by…

If any witness, being duly summoned, fails to attend, the judge of probate shall enter up a conditional fine against him or her, not exceeding $50.00, and shall thereupon issue a notice to such witness to appear at a term of said court, not more than 30 days from the date of such…

For the trial of such contest, depositions of witnesses may be taken in like cases, for the same causes and in the same manner, as depositions are taken in civil actions in the circuit court. In all matters relating to the organization and impaneling of the jury, to the evidence,…

When the judgment of the probate court is against the validity of the will, the probate thereof must be rejected; otherwise, the will must be admitted to probate. (Code 1852, §1647; Code 1867, §1965; Code 1876, §2329; Code 1886, §1995; Code 1896, §4293; Code 1907, §6202; Code 192…

The costs of any contest under the provisions of this article must be paid by the party contesting if he or she fails; otherwise, it must be paid by the plaintiff or out of the estate, or in such proportion by the plaintiff or out of the estate as the court may direct; and for th…

(a) At any time before the trial of such contest, either party may remove the same to another county by proceeding as is required in civil actions in the circuit court; and when an order for the removal of the trial of such contest is made, the judge of probate must transmit the …

Upon the demand of any party to the contest, made in writing at the time of filing the initial pleading, the probate court, or the judge thereof, must enter an order transferring the contest to the circuit court of the county in which the contest is made, and must certify all pap…

Any person interested in any will who has not contested the same under the provisions of this article, may, at any time within the six months after the admission of such will to probate in this state, contest the validity of the same by filing a complaint in the circuit court in …

In the event a contest of the probate of a will is instituted in the circuit court, as is or may be authorized by law, all parties interested in the probate of the will, as devisees, legatees or otherwise, as well as those interested in the testator if he or she had died intestat…

After the expiration of such six months, the validity of the will can only be contested by infants and persons of unsound mind who had no legal guardian at the time the will was admitted to probate, or who were not represented by a guardian ad litem, who are allowed 12 months aft…

The circuit court may, in such case, direct an issue to be tried by a jury, and on the trial before the jury, or hearing before the circuit judge, the testimony of the witnesses reduced to writing by the judge of probate, according to Section 43-8-169, is evidence to be considere…

(a) This division applies to both of the following: (1) Wills filed for probate on or after January 1, 2023, and the removal to circuit court of the administration of a decedent’s estate when the administration commenced on or after January 1, 2023. (2) Any probate proceeding, in…

In addition to the rules of evidence in the courts of general jurisdiction, the following rules relating to a determination of death and status apply: (1) Death occurs when an individual is determined to be dead under the Alabama Determination of Death Act, Section 22-31-1, et se…

Unless the context otherwise requires, in this division, a proceeding includes an action at law and a suit in equity. (Act 2022-427, §1.)

To the full extent permitted by the Constitution of Alabama of 2022 both of the following apply: (1) The probate court has jurisdiction over all matters set forth in Section 12-13-1. (2) The probate court where a will is offered for probate has original and general jurisdiction o…

(a) Where a proceeding under this division could be maintained in more than one place in this state, the probate court in which the proceeding is first commenced has the exclusive right to proceed. (b) If proceedings concerning the same estate are commenced in more than one proba…

(a) A will, before the probate thereof or at any time within 180 days after the admission of such will to probate, may be contested by any interested person by filing in the court where it is offered for probate, or if the proceedings in that court have been removed to the circui…

(a) Except for a proceeding pending in a probate court in a county where the probate court or judge exercises equity jurisdiction concurrent with that of the circuit court by virtue of a provision of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, specific to such county, a local act, or a …

Except as otherwise specifically provided in this division or by rule, every document filed with the probate court under this division, including applications, petitions, and demands for notice, shall be deemed to include an oath, affirmation, or statement to the effect that repr…

A devisee who does not survive the testator by five days is treated as if he or she predeceased the testator, unless the will of decedent contains some language dealing explicitly with simultaneous deaths or deaths in a common disaster, or requiring that the devisee survive the t…

The meaning and legal effect of a disposition in a will shall be determined by the local law of a particular state selected by the testator in his or her instrument unless the application of that law is contrary to the provisions relating to the elective share described in Sectio…

The intention of a testator as expressed in his or her will controls the legal effect of his or her dispositions. The rules of construction expressed in the succeeding sections of this article apply unless a contrary intention is indicated by the will. (Acts 1982, No. 82-399, §2-…