Making a will: notarial or holographic: what to do under Georgian law

What to do

1. Choose the form. A will must be in writing, either in notarial form or not (Civil Code of Georgia, Art. 1357). The most reliable is a notarial will, drawn up and signed by the testator and certified by a notary (Civil Code, Art. 1357). Certification of a will costs 9 lari (Resolution on Notarial Tariffs, Art. 31). Without a notary, there are two options. A holographic will is written and signed by the testator personally, and no witnesses are required (Civil Code, Art. 1364). Alternatively, a will printed without a notary is signed in the presence of 2 witnesses (Civil Code, Art. 1366). An heir, his or her relatives, spouse, legatee, or a minor cannot be a witness (Civil Code, Art. 1362). The drawback of a holographic will: heirs under it need a handwriting examination to obtain a certificate of inheritance (Instruction on the Procedure for Notarial Acts, Art. 86). For storage, a handwritten will may be deposited with a notary in a sealed envelope in the presence of 3 witnesses (Civil Code, Art. 1365).
2. Content: shares, or specific property, to each person. A person may be disinherited without any reason given (Civil Code, Art. 1354). However, children, parents and the spouse will receive a mandatory share (half of the statutory share) (Civil Code, Art. 1371). Such a person may be deprived of it only through a court, during the testator's lifetime, on grounds of unworthiness (Civil Code, Art. 1381). A substitute heir may also be appointed (Civil Code, Art. 1370).
3. Restrictions: a will must be made personally and cannot be made through a representative (Civil Code, Art. 1346). A joint will is possible only for spouses, on mutual inheritance (Civil Code, Art. 1347).
4. Changes: a will may be amended or revoked at any time (Civil Code, Art. 1398). A notarial will is not revoked by a will of another form (Civil Code, Art. 1401).
5. Foreigners: inheritance is governed by the law of the testator's country of citizenship at the time of death (Law of Georgia on Private International Law, Art. 55). That law may determine the shares and the order of heirs. The form is also valid under the law of the place where the immovable property is located (Law of Georgia on Private International Law, Art. 56).
6. Where to apply: notary. In hospitals, nursing homes and prisons, officials equivalent to notaries.
7. Evidence: passport; details of heirs; extract from the Public Registry.
8. Pitfalls: naming as a witness an heir or a relative of an heir; “disinheriting a son” without a court, since the mandatory share would still remain; revoking a notarial will with a holographic one.

Be sure to check

• permitted forms (notarial, holographic, printed with 2 witnesses) and their requirements
• who cannot be a witness
• disinheritance and its limit: the mandatory share of children, parents and the spouse
• amendment and revocation, and the priority of a notarial will
• notary fee; for a foreigner, the applicable law of citizenship