Sec. 13.12.501. Who may make will.

An individual 18 or more years of age who is of sound mind may make a will.

Sec. 13.12.502. Execution; witnessed wills; holographic wills.

(a) Except as provided in (b) of this section, AS 13.06.068, AS 13.12.506, and 13.12.513, a will must be (1) in writing; (2) signed by the testator or in the testator’s name by another individual in the testator’s conscious presence and by the testator’s direction; and (3) signed by at least two individuals, each of […]

Sec. 13.12.504. Self-proved will.

(a) A will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved, by acknowledgment of the will by the testator and affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which execution occurs and evidenced by the officer’s certificate, under official seal, in substantially the […]

Sec. 13.12.505. Who may witness.

(a) An individual generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will. (b) The signing of a will by an interested witness does not invalidate the will or a provision of it.

Sec. 13.12.506. Choice of law as to execution.

Except as provided by AS 13.06.068, a written will is valid if executed in compliance with AS 13.12.502 or if its execution complies with the law at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed or of the law of the place where, at the time of execution or at the […]

Sec. 13.12.507. Revocation by writing or by act.

(a) A will or a part of a will is revoked (1) by executing a subsequent will that revokes the previous will or part expressly or by inconsistency; or (2) by performing a revocatory act on the will, if the testator performed the act with the intent and for the purpose of revoking the will […]

Sec. 13.12.508. Revocation by change of circumstances.

Except as provided in AS 13.12.803 and 13.12.804, a change of circumstances does not revoke a will or a part of it.

Sec. 13.12.509. Revival of revoked will.

(a) If a subsequent will that wholly revoked a previous will is thereafter revoked by a revocatory act under AS 13.12.507(a)(2), the previous will remains revoked unless it is revived. The previous will is revived if it is evident from the circumstances of the revocation of the subsequent will or from the testator’s contemporary or […]

Sec. 13.12.510. Incorporation by reference.

A writing in existence when a will is executed may be incorporated by reference if the language of the will manifests this intent and describes the writing sufficiently to permit its identification.

Sec. 13.12.511. Testamentary additions to trusts.

(a) A will may validly devise property to the trustee of a trust established or to be established (1) during the testator’s lifetime by the testator, by the testator and some other person, or by some other person, including a funded or unfunded life insurance trust, although the settlor has reserved any or all rights […]

Sec. 13.12.512. Events of independent significance.

A will may dispose of property by reference to acts and events that have significance apart from their effect upon the dispositions made by the will, whether they occur before or after the execution of the will or before or after the testator’s death. The execution or revocation of another individual’s will is an event […]

Sec. 13.12.513. Separate writing identifying devise of certain types of tangible personal property.

Whether or not the provisions relating to holographic wills apply, a will may refer to a written statement or list to dispose of items of tangible personal property not otherwise specifically disposed of by the will, other than money. To be admissible under this section as evidence of the intended disposition, the writing must be […]

Sec. 13.12.514. Contracts concerning succession.

(a) A contract to make a will or devise, or not to revoke a will or devise, or to die intestate, if executed after January 1, 1997, may be established only by (1) provisions of a will stating material provisions of the contract; (2) an express reference in a will to a contract and extrinsic […]

Sec. 13.12.515. Deposit of will with court in testator’s lifetime.

A will may be deposited by the testator or the testator’s agent with a court for safekeeping, under rules of the court. During the testator’s lifetime, the will must be kept confidential. During the testator’s lifetime, a deposited will shall be delivered only to the testator or to a person authorized in writing signed by […]

Sec. 13.12.516. Duty of custodian of will; liability.

After the death of a testator and on request of an interested person, a person having custody of a will of the testator shall deliver it with reasonable promptness to a person able to secure its probate and, if the person with custody does not know of a person able to secure the will’s probate, […]

Sec. 13.12.517. Penalty clause for contest.

A provision in a will purporting to penalize an interested person for contesting the will or instituting other proceedings relating to the estate is unenforceable if probable cause exists for instituting proceedings.