A 3199 New Jersey General Assembly · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Provides that will is not valid unless signed by testator or substantially written in testator's handwriting.

This bill changes New Jersey's will validity rules by requiring that a will must either be signed by the person making it (the testator) or be substantially written in their handwriting to be legally valid. It directly affects individuals creating wills and executors who must prove a document's validity after someone dies. The key change removes an exception allowing unsigned, typed documents to be accepted as valid wills (as ruled in a 2012 court case), now mandating that such documents must meet the signature or handwriting requirement. The law applies to all wills filed with the Surrogate's Court on or after its effective date.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Jan 13, 2026
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Committee
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Jan 13, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Jay Webber
Jay Webber
RRepublican
NJ
26