More details to this question:
a will has been entered into the county probate court, another party has challenged the validity of the will ( which was done 4 years ago). in an investigation of the will, 1 of the witnesses has claimed not to have signed the will, in fact claimed, the person who is named in the will signed it, charges have been filed against that person, but has not been to trial, if found not guilty will the will stand as valid and if guilty will it be deemed invalid??
1 ANSWER
If the person is found guilty of forging the name of a necessary witness to the will, it seems to me that the will will not be valid. If the witness was not necessary (i.e. I always have 3 witnesses to any wills I prepare even though only 2 are required in NY, just in case), then the will may still be valid, although the circumstances with the forged signature obviously call the whole will execution into doubt and it might be held invalid anyway (and the Court may also be other problems with the will which you don't mention). If the person is found not guilty, however, the will may still be found invalid. A finding of not guilty just means that the defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The invalidation of a will does not require such a high standard of proof. To put it in math terms, let's say beyond a reasonable doubt means to a 98% certainty, while the standard of proof in a civil case is only 51%. If the evidence makes it 70% likely that the signature was forged, the person would be found not guilty in a criminal case, but still found to have forged the signature in a civil case.
Answered on Oct 22nd, 2013 at 12:45 PM