Table of Contents:
- Audiovisual Will as a New Method of Recording Oral Will Content
- Essential Elements of the Audiovisual Will
- Submission of the Will to the Probate Court
Audiovisual Will as a New Method of Recording Oral Will Content
The draft amendment to the Civil Code and the Code of Civil Procedure dated April 24, 2024, plans to introduce a new method of recording the content of an oral will in the form of an audiovisual recording into Polish law.
The oral form of a will is a special way of expressing the last will, which the testator can use in certain circumstances, i.e., when, due to particular and sudden circumstances justifying the fear of the testator’s imminent death, maintaining the ordinary form of the will is impossible or excessively difficult. In the justification of the draft law, the legislator indicated that such circumstances include a car accident or a heart attack.
According to the legislator, with the current technological development, it is possible to expand the scope of forms of documentation for a kind of “last chance will” without compromising the assessment of the will’s credibility and the determination of its content when it is impossible to make such a statement in the presence of three witnesses.
Essential Elements of the Audiovisual Will
The device on which the audiovisual will is recorded should be capable of simultaneously recording sound and image and should be a durable medium of information allowing for its playback. In this case, the legislator did not define the concept of a durable medium, leaving this element to the courts.
A valid audiovisual will require the testator to indicate the place of making the will, the date of making it, and the circumstances justifying the use of this form of will.
In the case of an audiovisual will, the act of making the statement of the last will can be recorded either by the testator or by a third party and, as not excluded by the legislator, also by the beneficiary of the disposition. In the justification of the law, the legislator indicated that due to the form of recording the testator’s will, there is less likelihood of influencing the testator’s will in this case. However, ultimately, this element should be examined by the court each time in the event of possible influence by threat or deceit on the content of the testator’s statement.
Submission of the Will to the Probate Court
The obligation to submit an oral will recorded in audiovisual form to the probate court will rest on anyone who has access to such a will. The person in possession of the recorded audiovisual will will be required to submit it to the probate court within one month from the date of its creation, and after the testator’s death within three months from the time of death. This obligation will rest, among others, on persons to whom the testator sent such a statement before death. The testator themselves may also submit the durable medium to the court.
The content of the oral audiovisual will will be determined by the probate court by playing it back from the durable medium. A protocol will be drawn up from the playback of such a will, with the appropriate application of the provisions on the opening and announcement of the will.
