Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 3, 1993 TAG: 9306030017
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Ray Reed
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A: Virginia law says wills have to be in writing. The only exception is for the so-called soldiers' and sailors' will, by which servicemen and -women can orally name those who will receive their personal property. Real estate can't be disposed of in this kind of will.
Del. Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke, said he could find no indication that Virginia has considered having wills on tape.
Videotapes have been used occasionally to provide evidence that the person making a written will was "of sound mind and disposing memory," as the lawyers put it. No witnesses needed
Your answer Monday to a question about wills said handwritten wills need to be witnessed. They do not have to be witnessed. You can write a will in your own handwriting and at the time the will is probated two disinterested persons have to attest that it is the handwriting of the person who wrote the will. M.P., Roanoke
A: Thank you. To borrow from another columnist, mea culpa.
My source told me the will needed to be attested and in the finest journalistic ignorance, relying on the standard journalists' dictionary, I concluded that "attested" meant the same as "witnessed." That's because the definition of "attest" is "to bear witness."
I should have remembered that lawyers use their own tome, "Black's Law Dictionary," which goes into much more legal detail.
For a handwritten will, all a person really needs to do is write it, date it, sign it and store it with their personal papers.
When the will is probated, two people - usually friends or distant relatives who don't receive anything from the estate - will be asked to say, under oath, whether the handwriting on the will is that of the testator. That's what "attest" means when the subject is handwritten wills.
"Witnessing" a will means observing the testator's hand in the act of signing.
People who have handwritten wills don't need to rush out and have them witnessed. When did they buy farm?
Q: I always thought the expression "He bought the farm" - meaning, he died - came from the early barnstorming pilots, rather than the World War II era as you indicated Monday. G.L., Chicago
A: I won't argue; your premise sounds reasonable. Monday's answer cited a book that was based on anecdotal information.
Your version was supported by a Radford reader. It says a pre-World War I barnstormer, if his engine conked out and forced him down in a field, had to pay restitution to the farmer for tearing up his crops.
If the pilot died, he was referred to as having bought the entire farm.
However, another version comes from E.J. of Lexington, who said "he bought the farm" meant a soldier's G.I. life insurance could pay off the mortgage on the family farm.
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by CNB