The Austrian Supreme Court recently created quite a fuss when it
ruled on the formal requirements for wills drawn up by another
person than the testator, i.e. wills not written in the
testator's own hand. Such a will requires the signatures of the
testator and three witnesses in order to be valid.
In the specific case, the testatrix shortly before her death in
hospital signed a will drawn up by a law office which consisted of
two loose sheets. The text of the will was placed on the front and
back of the first sheet which was signed by the testatrix; the
second sheet held the signatures of the three witnesses. The two
sheets were then tied together with a paper clip.
In its decision 2 Ob 192/17z, the Supreme Court ruled that this
arrangement did not comply with the formal requirements of a will
not written in the testator's own hand. According to the law,
the witnesses need to sign "on the deed" itself. If the
deed consists of several loose sheets they need to be
