The Conference
Considering the importance of measures to permit the safeguarding of
wills and to find them after the death of the testator;
Emphasizing the special interest in such measures with respect to the
international will, which is often made by the testator far from his home;
Recommends to the States that participated in the present Conference
--that they establish an internal system, centralized or not, to facilitate
the safekeeping, search and discovery of an international will as well
as the accompanying certificate, for example, along the lines of the Convention
on the Establishment of a Scheme of Registration of Wills, concluded at
Basel on May 16, 1972;
--that they facilitate the international exchange of information in these
matters and, to this effect, that they designate in each state an authority
or a service to handle such exchanges.
CONVENTION PROVIDING A UNIFORM LAW ON THE FORM OF AN INTERNATIONAL WILL
The States signatory to the present Convention,
DESIRING to provide to a greater extent for the respecting of last wills
by establishing an additional form of will hereinafter to be called an
"international will" which, if employed, would dispense to some
extent with the search for the applicable law;
HAVE RESOLVED to conclude a Convention for this purpose and have agreed
upon the following provisions:
ARTICLE I
1. Each Contracting Party undertakes that not later than six months after
the date of entry into force of this Convention in respect of that Party
it shall introduce into its law the rules regarding an international will
set out in the Annex to this Convention.
2. Each Contracting Party may introduce the provisions of the Annex into
its law either by reproducing the actual text, or by translating it into
its official language or languages.
3. Each Contracting Party may introduce into its law such further provisions
as are necessary to give the provisions of the Annex full effect in its
territory.
4. Each Contracting Party shall submit to the Depositary Government the
text of the rules introduced into its national law in order to implement
theprovisions of this Convention.
ARTICLE II
1. Each Contracting Party shall implement the provisions of the Annex
in its law, within the period provided for in the preceding article, by
designating the persons who, in its territory, shall be authorized to
act in connection with international wills. It may also designate as a
person authorized to act with regard to its nationals its diplomatic or
consular agents abroad insofar as the local law does not prohibit it.
2. The Party shall notify such designation, as well as any modifications
thereof, to the Depositary Government.
ARTICLE III
The capacity of the authorized person to act in connection with an international
will, if conferred in accordance with the law of a Contracting Party,
shall be recognized in the territory of the other Contracting Parties.
ARTICLE IV
The effectiveness of the certificate provided for in Article 10 of the
Annex shall be recognized in the territories of all Contracting Parties.
ARTICLE V
1. The conditions requisite to acting as a witness of an international
will shall be governed by the law under which the authorized person was
designated. The same rule shall apply as regards an interpreter who is
called upon to act.
2. Nonetheless no one shall be disqualified to act as a witness of an
international will solely because he is an alien.
ARTICLE VI
1. The signature of the testator, of the authorized person, and of the
witnesses to an international will, whether on the will or on the certificate,
shall be exempt from any legalization or like formality.
2. Nonetheless, the competent authorities of any Contracting Party may,
if necessary, satisfy themselves to the authenticity of the signature
of the authorized person.
ARTICLE VII
The safekeeping of an international will shall be governed by the law
under which the authorized person was designated.
ARTICLE VIII
No reservation shall be admitted to this Convention or to its Annex.
ARTICLE IX
1. The present Convention shall be open for signature at Washington from
October 26, 1973, until December 31, 1974.
2. The Convention shall be subject to ratification.
3. Instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Government
of the United States of America, which shall be the Depositary Government.
ARTICLE X
1. The Convention shall be open indefinitely for accession.
2. Instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Depositary Government.
ARTICLE XI
1. The present Convention shall enter into force six months after the
date of deposit of the fifth instrument of ratification or accession with
the Depositary Government.
2. In the case of each State which ratifies this Convention or accedes
to it after the fifth instrument of ratification or accession has been
deposited, this Convention shall enter into force six months after the
deposit of its own instrument of ratification or accession.
ARTICLE XII
1. Any Contracting Party may denounce this Convention by written notification
to the Depositary Government.
2. Such denunciation shall take effect twelve months from the date on
which the Depositary Government has received the notification, but such
denunciation shall not affect the validity of any will made during the
period that the Convention was in effect for the denouncing State.
ARTICLE XIII
1. Any State may, when it deposits its instrument of ratification or
accession or at any time thereafter, declare, by a notice addressed to
the Depositary Government, that this Convention shall apply to all or
part of the territories for the international relations of which it is
responsible.
2. Such declaration shall have effect six months after the date on which
the Depositary Government shall have received notice thereof or, if at
the end of such period Convention has not yet come into force, from the
date of its entry into force.
3. Each Contracting Party which has made a declaration in accordance
with paragraph 1 of this Acticle may, in accordance with Article XII,
denounce this Convention in relation to all or part of the territories
concerned.
ARTICLE XIV
1. If a State has two or more territorial units in which different systems
of law apply in relation to matters respecting the form of wills, it may
at the time of signature, ratification, or accession, declare that this
Convention shall extend to all its territorial units or only to one or
more of them, and may modify its declaration by submitting another declaration
at any time.
2. These declarations shall be notified to the Depositary Government
and shall state expressly the territorial units to which the Convention
applies.
ARTICLE XV
If a Contracting Party has two or more territorial units in which different
systems of law apply in relation to matters respecting the form of wills,
any reference to the internal law of the place where the will is made
or to the law under which the authorized person has been appointed to
act in connection with international wills and shall be construed in accordance
with the constitutional system of the Party concerned.
ARTICLE XVI
1. The original of the present Convention, in the English, French, Russian
and Spanish languages, each version being equally authentic, shall be
deposited with the Government of the United States of America, which shall
transmit certified copies thereof to each of the signatory and acceding
States and to the International Institute for the Unification of Private
Law.
2. The depositary Government shall give notice to the signatory and acceding
States, and to the International Institute for the Unification of Private
Law, of:
(a) any signature;
(b) the deposit of any instrument of ratification or accession;
(c) any date on which this Convention enters into force in accordance
with Article XI;
(d) any communication received in accordance with Article I, paragraph
4;
(e) any notice received in accordance with Article II, paragraph 2;
(f) any declaration received in accordance with Article XIII, paragraph
2, and the date on which such declaration takes effect;
(g) anydenunciation received in accordance with Article XII, paragraph
1, or Article XIII, paragraph 3, and the date on which the denunication
takes effect;
(h) any declaration received in accordance with Article XIV, paragraph
2, and the date on which the declaration takes effect.
In witness whereof, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, being duly authorized
to that effect, have signed the present Convention.
Done at Washington this twenty-sixth day of October, one thousand nine
hundred and seventy-three.
Unifrom law on the Form of a International Will
ARTICLE 1
1. A will shall be valid as regards form, irrespective particularly of
the place where it is made, of the location of the assets and of the nationality,
domicile or residence of the testator, if it is made in the form of an
international will complying with the provisions set out in Articles 2
to 5 hereinafter.
2. The invalidity of the will as an international will shall not affect
its formal validity as a will of another kind.
ARTICLE 2
This law shall not apply to the form of testamentary dispositions made
by two or more persons in one instrument.
ARTICLE 3
1. The will shall be made in writing.
2. It need not be written by the testator himself.
3. It may be written in any language, by hand or by any other means.
ARTICLE 4
1. The testator shall declare in the presence of two witnesses and of
a person authorized to act in connection with international wills that
the document is his will and that he knows the contents thereof.
2. The testator need not inform the witnesses, or the authorized person,
of the contents of the will.
ARTICLE 5
1. In the presence of the witnesses and of the authorized person, the
testator shall sign the will or, if he has previously signed it, shall
acknowledge his signature.
2. When the testator is unable to sign, he shall indicate the reason
therefor to the authorized person who shall made note of this on the will.
Moreover, the testator may be authorized by the law under which the authorized
person was designated to direct another person to sign on his behalf.
3. The witnesses and the authorized person shall there and then attest
the will by signing in the presence of the testator.
ARTICLE 6
1. The signatures shall be placed at the end of the will.
2. If the will consists of several sheets, each sheet shall be signed
by the testator or, if he is unable to sign, by [*78] the person signing
on his behalf or, if there is no such person, by the authorized person.
In addition, each sheet shall be numbered.
ARTICLE 7
1. The date of the will shall be the date of its signature by the authorized
person.
2. This date shall be noted at the end of the will by the authorized
person.
ARTICLE 8
In the absence of any mandatory rule pertaining to the safekeeping of
the will, the authorized person shall ask the testator whether he wishes
to make a declaration concerning the safekeeping of his will. If so and
at the express request of the testator the place where he intends to have
his will kept shall be mentioned in the certificate provided for in Article
9.
ARTICLE 9
The authorized person shall attach to the will a certificate in the form
prescribed in Article 10 establishing that the obligations of this law
have been complied with.
ARTICLE 10
The certificate drawn up by the authorized person shall be in the following
form or in a substantially similar form:
CERTIFICATE
(Convention of October 26, 1973)
1. I, ___ (name, address and capacity), a person authorized to act in
connection with international wills
2. Certify that on ___ (date) at ___ (place)
3. (testator) ___ (name, address, date and place of birth) in my presence
and that of the witnesses
4. (a) ___ (name, address, date and place of birth)
(b) ___ (name, address, date and place of birth) has declared that the
attached document is his will and that he knows the contents thereof.
5. I furthermore certify that:
6. (a) in my presence and in that of the witnesses
(1) the testator has signed the will or has acknowledged his signature
previously affixed.
n1 (2) following a declaration of the testator stating that he was unable
to sign his will for the following reason ___
--I have mentioned this declaration on the will
n1--The signature has been affixed by ___ (name, address)
7. (b) the witnesses and I have signed the will;
8. n1 (c) each page of the will has been signed by ___ and numbered;
9. (d) I have satisfied myself as to the identity of the testator and
of the witnesses as designated above;
10. (e) the witnesses met the conditions requisite to act as such according
to the law under which I am acting;
11. n1 (f) the testator has requested me to include the following statement
concerning the safekeeping of his will:
___
12. PLACE
13. DATE
14. SIGNATURE and, if necessary, SEAL.
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n1 To be completed if appropriate.
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ARTICLE 11
The authorized person shall keep a copy of the certificate and deliver
another to the testator.
ARTICLE 12
In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the certificate of the authorized
person shall be conclusive of the formal validity of the instrument as
a will under this Law.
ARTICLE 13
The absence or irregularity of a certificate shall not affect the formal
validity of a will under this Law.
ARTICLE 14
The international will shall be subject to the ordinary rules of revocation
of wills.
ARTICLE 15
In interpreting and applying the provisions of this law, regard shall
be had to its international origin and to the need for uniformity in its
interpretation.
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