Title 30.1, Uniform Probate Code

Any adult who is of sound mind may make a will.

1. Except as provided in subsection 2 and in sections 30.1-08-06 and 30.1-08-13, a will must be: a. In writing. b. Signed by the testator or in the testator's name by some other individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction. c. Either signed: (1)…

1. A will that is executed with attesting witnesses 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 in…

1. Any person generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will. 2. A will or any provision thereof is not invalid because the will is signed by an interested witness.

A written will is valid if executed in compliance with section 30.1-08-02 or if its execution complies with the law at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed, or of the law of the place where at the time of execution or at the time of death the testator is …

1. A will or any part thereof is revoked: a. By executing a subsequent will that revokes the previous will or part expressly or by inconsistency; or b. By performing a revocatory act on the will, if the testator performed the act with the intent and for the purpose of revoking th…

Except as provided in sections 30.1-10-03 and 30.1-10-04, a change of circumstances does not revoke a will or any part of it.

1. If a subsequent will that wholly revoked a previous will is thereafter revoked by a revocatory act under subdivision b of subsection 1 of section 30.1-08-07, the previous will remains revoked unless it is revived. The previous will is revived if it is evident from the circumst…

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.

1. A will may validly devise property to the trustee of a trust established or to be established during the testator's lifetime by the testator, by the testator and some other person, or by some other person including a funded or unfunded life insurance trust, although the trusto…

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…

Whether or not the provisions relating to holographic wills apply, a will may refer to a written statement or list to dispose of items of tangible personal property not otherwise specifically disposed of by the will, other than money. To be admissible under this section as eviden…

The intention of a testator as expressed in the testator's will controls the legal effect of the testator's dispositions. The rules of construction expressed in this chapter apply unless a contrary intention is indicated by the will.

A will may provide for the passage of all property the testator owns at death and all property acquired by the estate after the testator's death.

If a devisee who is a grandparent or a lineal descendant of a grandparent of the testator is dead at the time of execution of the will, fails to survive the testator, or is treated as if the devisee predeceased the testator, the issue of the deceased devisee who survive the testa…

1. Except as provided in section 30.1-09-05, a devise, other than a residuary devise, that fails for any reason becomes a part of the residue. 2. Except as provided in section 30.1-09-05, if the residue is devised to two or more persons, the share of a residuary devisee that fail…

1. If a testator intended a specific devise of certain securities rather than the equivalent value thereof, the specific devisee is entitled only to: a. As much of the devised securities as is a part of the estate at the time of the testator's death. b. Any additional or other se…

1. A specific devisee has the right to specifically devised property in the testator's estate at the testator's death and to: a. Any balance of the purchase price, together with any security interest, owed by a purchaser at the testator's death by reason of sale of the property b…

A specific devise passes subject to any security interest existing at the date of death, without right of exoneration, regardless of a general directive in the will to pay debts.

A general residuary clause in a will, or a will making general disposition of all of the testator's property, does not exercise a power of appointment held by the testator unless specific reference is made to the power or there is some other indication of intention to include the…

1. Property a testator gave in the testator's lifetime to a person is treated as a satisfaction of a devise in whole or in part, only if the will provides for deduction of the gift, the testator declared in a contemporaneous writing that the gift is in satisfaction of the devise …

A contract to make a will or devise, or not to revoke a will or devise, or to die intestate, if executed after July 1, 1975, can be established only by: 1. Provisions of a will stating material provisions of the contract; 2. An express reference in a will to a contract and extrin…

1. An individual who is divorced from the decedent or whose marriage to the decedent has been annulled is not a surviving spouse unless, by virtue of a subsequent marriage, the spouse is married to the decedent at the time of death. A decree of separation that does not terminate …

1. In this section: a. "Disposition or appointment of property" includes a transfer of an item of property or any other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument. b. "Governing instrument" means a governing instrument executed by the decedent. c. "Revocable", …

1. In this section: a. "Disposition or appointment of property" includes a transfer of an item of property or any other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument. b. "Divorce or annulment" means any divorce or annulment, or any dissolution or declaration of in…

The court may reform the terms of a governing instrument, even if unambiguous, to conform the terms to the transferor's intention if it is proved by clear and convincing evidence that the transferor's intent and the terms of the governing instrument were affected by a mistake of …

To achieve the transferor's tax objectives, the court may modify the terms of a governing instrument in a manner that is not contrary to the transferor's probable intention. The court may provide that the modification has retroactive effect.

A will may be deposited by the testator or the testator's agent with a recorder for safekeeping. The will must be sealed and kept confidential. During the testator's lifetime, a deposited will must be delivered only to the testator or to a person authorized in a writing signed by…

After the death of a testator and on request of an interested person, a person having custody of a will of the testator shall deliver it with reasonable promptness to a person able to secure its probate, and if none is known, to an appropriate court. A person who willfully fails …

The power of a person to leave property by will, and the rights of creditors, devisees, and heirs to the person's property, are subject to the restrictions and limitations contained in this title to facilitate the prompt settlement of estates. Upon the death of a person, the dece…

Except as provided in section 30.1-23-01, to be effective to prove the transfer of any property or to nominate an executor, a will must be declared to be valid by an order of informal probate or an adjudication of probate by the court.

Except as otherwise provided in chapters 30.1-24 and 30.1-25, to acquire the powers and undertake the duties and liabilities of a personal representative of a decedent, a person must be appointed by order of the court, qualify, and be issued letters. Administration of an estate i…

No proceeding to enforce a claim against the estate of a decedent or the decedent's successors may be revived or commenced before the appointment of a personal representative. After the appointment and until distribution, all proceedings and actions to enforce a claim against the…

Persons interested in decedents' estates may apply to the court for determination in the informal proceedings provided in chapters 30.1-12 through 30.1-23 and may petition the court for orders in formal proceedings within the court's jurisdiction, including those described in cha…

In proceedings within the exclusive jurisdiction of the court where notice is required by this title or by rule, and in proceedings to construe probated wills or determine heirs which concern estates that have not been and cannot now be opened for administration, interested perso…

Unless supervised administration as described in chapter 30.1-16 is involved, each proceeding before the court is independent of any other proceeding involving the same estate. Petitions for formal orders of the court may combine various requests for relief in a single proceeding…

No informal probate or appointment proceeding or formal testacy or appointment proceeding, other than a proceeding to probate a will previously probated at the testator's domicile and appointment proceedings relating to an estate in which there has been a prior appointment, may b…

No statute of limitation running on a claim for relief belonging to a decedent which had not been barred as of the date of the decedent's death applies to bar a claim for relief surviving the decedent's death sooner than four months after death. A claim for relief which, but for …

1. Venue for the first informal or formal testacy or appointment proceedings after a decedent's death is: a. In the county where the decedent was domiciled at the time of death. b. If the decedent was not domiciled in this state, in any county where property of the decedent was l…

If conflicting claims as to the domicile of a decedent are made in a formal testacy or appointment proceeding commenced in this state, and in a testacy or appointment proceeding after notice pending at the same time in another state, the court of this state must stay, dismiss, or…

1. Whether the proceedings are formal or informal, persons who are not disqualified have priority for appointment in the following order: a. The person with priority as determined by a probated will, including a person nominated by a power conferred in a will. b. The surviving sp…

Any person desiring notice of any order or filing pertaining to a decedent's estate in which the person has a financial or property interest may file a demand for notice with the court, at any time after the death of the decedent, stating the name of the decedent, the nature of t…

1. Applications for informal probate or informal appointment shall be directed to the court, and verified by the applicant to be accurate and complete to the best of the applicant's knowledge and belief as to the following information: a. Every application for informal probate of…

The court shall provide the necessary forms to an applicant who requests aid in using the informal probate or appointment procedure. The forms and explanatory materials must be prepared by the state court administrator and provided at cost. The assistance of an attorney is not re…

Upon receipt of an application requesting informal probate of a will, the court, upon making the findings required by section 30.1-14-03, shall issue a written statement of informal probate if at least one hundred twenty hours have elapsed since the decedent's death. Informal pro…

1. In an informal proceeding for original probate of a will, the court shall determine whether: a. The application is complete. b. The applicant has made oath or affirmation that the statements contained in the application are true to the best of the applicant's knowledge and bel…

Applications for informal probate which relate to one or more of a known series of testamentary instruments, other than a will and one or more codicils to the will, the latest of which does not expressly revoke the earlier, must be declined.

If the court is not satisfied that a will is entitled to be probated in informal proceedings because of failure to meet the requirements of sections 30.1-14-03 and 30.1-14-04, or for any other reason specified by law, it may decline the application. A declination of informal prob…

The moving party must give notice, as described in section 30.1-03-01, of the moving party's application for informal probate to any person demanding it pursuant to section 30.1-13-04, and to any personal representative of the decedent whose appointment has not been terminated. N…

1. Upon receipt of an application for informal appointment of a personal representative other than a special administrator as provided in section 30.1-17-14, if at least one hundred twenty hours have elapsed since the decedent's death, the court, after making the findings require…