North Dakota

N.D. Cent. Code §30.1-08-05: any person generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will, and a will or any provision of it is not invalid because the will is signed by an interested witness. North Dakota follows the UPC rule and has no purge statute, so a gift to an attesting witness remains effective. Using witnesses who take nothing under the will is still the safer practice.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION (informational; NOT a statutory short-form notice) Note for North Dakota readers. North Dakota has NOT enacted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA). This Power of Attorney is governed by the older Uniform Durable Power of Attorney Act, N.D. Cent. Code Chapter 30.1-30 (§§30.1-30-01 through 30.1-30-06), which has no statutory short form and no statutorily mandated notice. The disclosure paragraphs below are included as a best-practice informational notice modeled on the UPOAA short form so risk-averse ND banks and recording offices see disclosure language they recognize. No part of this notice is required by N.D. Cent. Code Chapter 30.1-30 for the validity of this Power of Attorney; the operative authority is the durability recital and the agent-grant articles below. This power of attorney authorizes another person (your agent) to make decisions concerning your property for you (the principal). Your agent will be able to make decisions and act with respect to your property (including your money) whether or not you are able to act for yourself. The scope of each subject listed on this form is defined by the grant articles of this instrument itself. N.D. Cent. Code §§30.1-30-01 through 30.1-30-06 do not define these subjects by statute. This power of attorney does not authorize the agent to make health-care decisions for you. You should select someone you trust to serve as your agent. Unless the power of attorney provides otherwise, your agent has the power to act on your behalf for all matters covered by this instrument, even if you are able to act for yourself. This form provides for designation of one agent. If your agent is unable or unwilling to act for you, your power of attorney will end unless you have named a successor agent. Whether this Power of Attorney takes effect immediately or only upon a certification of incapacity is stated in Article II (Durability / Effective Date) of this instrument. Your agent is required to act in accordance with your reasonable expectations to the extent actually known by your agent and, otherwise, in your best interest, to act in good faith, and to act only within the scope of authority granted in the power of attorney. The North Dakota statute that governs durable powers of attorney is N.D. Cent. Code §§30.1-30-01 through 30.1-30-06, the Uniform Durable Power of Attorney Act. It contains no statutory short form and no default rules on agent compensation, coagent authority, or termination for want of a successor agent; those matters are governed by the terms of this instrument. Section 30.1-30-01 expressly contemplates either an immediately effective or a springing durable power, and Article II (Durability / Effective Date) of this Power of Attorney states which one applies. If you have any questions about the power of attorney or the authority you are granting to your agent, you should seek legal advice before signing this form.

N.D.C.C. §23-06.5-05(2): the principal's signature must be verified by a notary public or by at least two subscribing witnesses who are at least eighteen years of age. Neither the notary public nor any witness may be, at the time of execution, the agent, the principal's spouse or heir, a person related to the principal by blood, marriage, or adoption, a person entitled to any part of the principal's estate upon death under a will or deed in existence or by operation of law, any other person who has a claim against the principal's estate at the time of execution, a person directly financially responsible for the principal's medical care, or the principal's attending physician. In addition, at least one witness must not be a health care or long-term care provider providing direct care to the principal, or an employee of such a provider, on the date of execution; §23-06.5-05(2) expressly permits the person notarizing the document to be an employee of such a provider. Under §23-06.5-05(1)(d), the directive may carry the principal's own signature or the signature of another person the principal authorized to sign on the principal's behalf, and that signature is the one the notary or the witnesses verify. If the principal is physically unable to sign, §23-06.5-05(2) lets some other person write the principal's name in the principal's presence and at the principal's express direction.