Title 43 — Title 43

Subject to additional definitions contained in the subsequent articles which are applicable to specific articles or divisions, and unless the context otherwise requires, in this chapter, the following words shall have the following meanings: (1) BENEFICIARY. As it relates to trus…

(a) A surviving spouse of a decedent who was domiciled in this state is entitled to a homestead allowance of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). If there is no surviving spouse, each minor child and each dependent child of the decedent is entitled to a homestead allowance amounti…

If the decedent was domiciled in this state at the time of death the surviving spouse is entitled to receive, in addition to the homestead allowance, property of a value not exceeding seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) in excess of any security interests therein in hous…

In addition to the right to homestead allowance and exempt property, if the decedent was domiciled in this state, the surviving spouse and minor children whom the decedent was obligated to support and children who were in fact being supported by him or her are entitled to a reaso…

Allowances; Petition for Relief by Personal Representative or Interested Person. If the estate is otherwise sufficient, property specifically devised is not used to satisfy rights to homestead and exempt property. Subject to this restriction, the surviving spouse, the guardians o…

The spouse may retain possession of the dwelling house where the surviving spouse resided with the decedent, with the offices and buildings appurtenant thereto and the plantation connected therewith until homestead is assigned, free from the payment of rent. The obligation to pay…

Former Employee of Another; Status of Funds Paid Under This Section. (a) Whenever an employee of another shall die intestate and there shall be due him or her any sum as wages or salary the debtor may discharge himself or herself from liability therefor by paying such amount to t…

On July 1, 2017, and at the end of each 3-year period thereafter, the State Treasurer shall adjust each dollar amount in this article or, for each adjustment after July 1, 2017, each adjusted amount, by an amount determined by the State Treasurer to reflect the cumulative change …

Any person 18 or more years of age who is of sound mind may make a will. History: (Acts 1982, No. 82-399, §2-501.)

Except as provided within Section 43-8-135, every will shall be in writing signed by the testator or in the testator’s name by some other person in the testator’s presence and by his or her direction, and shall be signed by at least two persons each of whom witnessed either the s…

Proved; Effect. (a) Any will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved, by acknowledgment thereof by the testator and affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state where execution occurs an…

An attested will may be made self-proved through compliance with Section 43-8- 132 or as otherwise provided by law. History: (Acts 1982, No. 82-399, §2-504.)

(a) Any person generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will. (b) A will or any provision thereof is not invalid because the will is signed by an interested witness. History: (Acts 1982, No. 82-399, §2-505.)

A written will is valid if executed in compliance with Section 43-8-131 or if its execution complies with the law at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed, or with the law of the place where at the time of execution or at the time of death the testator is …

(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 …

Revocation by Other Changes or Circumstances. 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 …

(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 revocatio…

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. History: (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. History: (Code 1852, §1620; Code 1867, §1939; Code 1876, §2303; Cod…

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. History: (Code 1852, §1612; Code 18…

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. History: (Code 1852, §1632; Code 1867, §1951; C…

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…

Jury. 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 …

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. History: (Code 1852, §1647; Code 1867, §1965; Code 1876, §2329; Code 1886, §1995; Code 1896, §4293; Code 1907, §6202;…

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 …

Court; Certification of Judgment, Etc., to Probate Court. 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 cou…

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 …

(a) This chapter shall be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes and policies. (b) The underlying purposes and policies of this chapter are: (1) To simplify and clarify the law concerning the affairs of decedents; (2) To discover and make effective the…

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, this chapter applies to: (1) The affairs and estates of decedents domiciled in this state; and (2) The property of nonresidents located in this state or property coming into the control of a fiduciary who is subject to the laws of thi…

Conclusiveness of Judgment. 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…

Contest by Infants and Persons of Unsound Mind. 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 …