Chapter 1 - General Provisions

California Probate Code — §§ 6100-6105

Sections (7)

Amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 730, Sec. 7. Effective January 1, 1996.

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

(b)A conservator may make a will for the conservatee if the conservator has been so authorized by a court order pursuant to Section 2580. Nothing in this section shall impair the right of a conservatee who is mentally competent to make a will from revoking or amending a will made by the conservator or making a new and inconsistent will.

§ 6100.5

Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 9, Sec. 18. (AB 46) Effective January 1, 2020.

(a)An individual is not mentally competent to make a will if, at the time of making the will, either of the following is true:

(1)The individual does not have sufficient mental capacity to be able to do any of the following:

(A)Understand the nature of the testamentary

act.

(B)Understand and recollect the nature and situation of the individual’s property.

(C)Remember and understand the individual’s relations to living descendants, spouse, and parents, and those whose interests are affected by the will.

(2)The individual suffers from a mental health disorder with symptoms including delusions or hallucinations, which delusions or hallucinations result in the individual’s devising property in a way that, except for the existence of the delusions or hallucinations, the individual would not have done.

(b)This section does not supersede existing law relating to the admissibility of evidence to prove

the existence of mental incompetence or mental health disorders.

(c)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a conservator may make a will on behalf of a conservatee if the conservator has been authorized to do so by a court order pursuant to Section 2580.

§ 6101

Enacted by Stats. 1990, Ch. 79.

A will may dispose of the following property:

(a)The testator’s separate property.

(b)The one-half of the community property that belongs to the testator under Section 100.

(c)The one-half of the testator’s quasi-community property that belongs to the testator under Section 101.

§ 6102

Enacted by Stats. 1990, Ch. 79.

A will may make a disposition of property to any person, including but not limited to any of the following:

(a)An individual.

(b)A corporation.

(c)An unincorporated association, society, lodge, or any branch thereof.

(d)A county, city, city and county, or any municipal corporation.

(e)Any state, including this state.

(f)The United States or any instrumentality thereof.

(g)A foreign country or a governmental entity therein.

§ 6103

Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 138, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 2003.

Except as otherwise specifically provided, Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 6100), Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 6110), Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 6120), Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 6130), Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 6200), and Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 6300) of this division, and Part 1 (commencing with Section 21101) of Division 11, do not apply where the testator died before January 1, 1985, and the law applicable prior to January 1, 1985, continues to apply where the testator died before January 1, 1985.

§ 6104

Enacted by Stats. 1990, Ch. 79.

The execution or revocation of a will or a part of a will is ineffective to the extent the execution or revocation was procured by duress, menace, fraud, or undue influence.

§ 6105

Enacted by Stats. 1990, Ch. 79.

A will, the validity of which is made conditional by its own terms, shall be admitted to probate or rejected, or denied effect after admission to probate, in conformity with the condition.