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Last week he was able to tell me the details of his will.   We hired an attorney to prepare the will. He is now unable to sign the will. What options do we have. I am only a friend and not a relative. Any guidance would be appreciated.

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My brother-in-law was paralyzed, but was mentally competent. His attorney, who was an elder law specialist, prepared his will and whatever documents were required. I took the will to BIL's nursing home room, where we met with BIL's financial advisor and his wife. Financial advisor made sure with BIL that the will was in accordance with BIL's wishes. Witnesses signed (not me, as I was a beneficiary), and it was notarized by the NH's notary. The attorney who prepared the will should be able to guide you on all this.
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Get a notarized statement from the doctor of incompetence.
Can he do an X mark? If no forget this as he lacks competence..
Secure two witnesses and have the document notarized.
File this document with the Recorder of Deeds.
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Yeah, it would be seen as suspicious if a person with declining faculties changes a Will near the time of death or incompetence disinheriting natural heirs. It's presumed that we want to provide to our heirs and if not, then, it might be grounds to contest it. An attorney would be able to address that though, if it's proper and all is above board.
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I'm afraid that Debbie didn't give us enough information to work with and left the building after posting. :)
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Debbie - the "we" part in your post is somewhat troubling to me. His will is NOT a "we" but has to be his intentions, his choices. Hiring an atty is not a "we" project. So did he meet with & hire the atty on his own and go over details and now a week later he cannot sign, OR did you do this without him and now he needs to actually go to the atty office meet with atty & sign & with witnesses and cannot and you are looking for a way around to get a will done?

If its the latter, his family & or heirs will probably easily be able to ask probate court to have any will filed to be invalid & request either a dependent administration to be done (court appoints executor) or to have him considered to have died intestate with a lineal heirship to be done. If you benefit in any way from the "will", expect you will have to hire your own probate atty to do litigation on your behalf in probate court. If its a lineal heirship, you have no position as a heir.

If your doing all this as a gracious gesture to help him with nothing to your benefit, I'd suggest you ask the original atty to look into court appointed guardianship or contacting his family. If you pay the costs on any of this, consider it a final gift from you to your friend.
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My mom had vascular dementia & could no longer sign. She was able to make an x and the notary said that was good enough because he witnessed her sign it & that was her signature & perfectly legal.
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If he is having a health crisis that caused him to feel a need to write a Will then perhaps his memory problems will improve with treatment. If he has periods when he is more lucid he may still be able to sign the document if the lawyer determines that he comprehends what is in it at that time.
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I would suggest You have Your Attorney present when Your Friend declares His instructions on how the will should be carried out, and once that will is drafted to the letter Your Friend might make His mark with The Attorney present, and is it one or two Witnesses.
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If he is not mentally competent, then he will not be able to sign the will unfortunately. One is declaring that they are of sound mind, so if that isn't so, then the will is not legitimate. If they are unable to sign because of physical impairment, then a video of the process should do fine. I would seek the advice of the attorney who prepared the will.

If your friend's physical condition has deteriorated since the attorney began preparing the will and your friend can no longer sign, please speak to the attorney about what to do that could make the will legitimate. Does the will have anything in it that is out of the ordinary?
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Seek legal advice from an attorney. Is he unable to sign because of a hand problem or mental issue? I would think an attorney would be the only one to guide you on this kind of thing.
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