In Martina v. Elrod, No. S13A0907, 2013 WL4779547 (Ga. Sept. 9, 2013), the Georgia Supreme Court held that a purported self-provingaffidavit attached to the testator’s will did not comply with the requirementsof Georgia law. The required notary’s certificate lacked affirmation by thenotary of three of the statutory requirements: a recitation that those signingthe affidavit were known to the notary to be the testator and witnesses, thatthe witnesses were signing at the testator’s request, and that the witnesseswere at least 14 years of age. The affidavit was not in substantial compliancewith the statute because the three requirements were not met.
Special thanks to William LaPiana (Professor of Law, New York Law School) for bringing this case to my attention.
