Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 76A.djvu/676

–580– -580§ 942. Holographic wills A holographic will may be proved in the same manner as other private writings. § 943. Record of clerk upon admission to probate When the court admits a will to probate, the clerk shall record it in the minutes, with the notation: "Admitted to probate [giving date]." Subchapter II—Lost or Destroyed Wills § 961. Duty of court as to proof; notice; reduction of testimony to writing If a will is lost or destroyed, the court shall take proof of, and establish, the execution and validity of the will, upon notice given to all interested persons, as prescribed in regard to proof of wills in other cases. The testimony given shall be reduced to writing, and signed by the witnesses. § 962. Requisites of proof; fraud or public calamity; mentally incompetent person A will may not be proved as a lost or destroyed will, unless it is proved to have been in existence at the time of the death of the testator, or is shown to have been fraudulently or by public calamity destroyed in the lifetime of the testator, without his knowledge, and unless its provisions are clearly and distinctly proved by at least two credible witnesses; but if the testator is declared mentally incompetent in the Canal Zone and after such a determination his will is destroyed by public calamity, and the testator is never restored to competency, then, after his death, his will may be probated as though it were in existence at the time of his death. § 963. Certification, recordation, and grant of letters When a lost will is established, the provisions thereof shall be distinctly stated and certified by the judge, under his hand and seal of the court. The certificate shall be filed and recorded as other wills are filed and recorded, and letters testamentary or of administration with the will annexed, shall be issued thereon in the same manner as upon wills produced and duly proved. The testimony shall be reduced to writing, signed, certified, and filed as in other cases, and shall have the same effect as evidence as that provided by section 1035 of this title. § 964. Restraining executor or administrator previously appointed pending petition If, before or pending an application to prove a lost or destroyed will, letters of administration are granted on the estate of the testator, or letters testamentary of a previous will of the testator are granted, the court may restrain the executors or administrators, so appointed, from any acts or proceedings that would be injurious to the legatees or devisees claiming under the lost or destroyed will. Subchapter III—Foreign Wills § 981. Allowance and recordation of foreign will; place A will duly proved and allowed in a State of the United States, or in a foreign country, may be allowed and recorded in the division of the district court having jurisdiction as determined by section 902 of this title. § 982. Procedure; notice The executor, or any person interested in a will described by section 981 of this title, may file a copy of the will and of the order

�