Making a Will 233 



nesses to witness his will; then the testator must 

 sign it, either by name or by mark, at the end 

 of the will and affix his seal, signature or mark 

 in the presence of the three witnesses. The wit- 

 nesses' statement and signatures may follow the 

 testator's signature, but it will almost invariably 

 avoid the will if anything else follow his signa- 

 ture; then let him declare it to be his last will 

 and testament, and ask the three witnesses to 

 sign, which the witnesses will do in his pres- 

 ence and in the presence of each other, and 

 add their places of residence after their signa- 

 tures. Immediately following the testator's sig- 

 nature, and above the signatures of the witnesses, 

 should be a statement showing that all of these 

 formalities were observed. Such a statement is 

 given in the following form and may be written 

 into the will at the point indicated. This will 

 serve in years after to remind the witnesses of 

 what was done, as they will see that they signed 

 the statement at the time, though they may 

 have forgotten, until they read it, that all of 

 these things actually occurred. Of course, these 

 particulars may be varied sometimes and not 

 affect the validity of the will, as, for exam- 

 ple: only two witnesses are required in some 

 states; the seal after the testator's name may 

 be omitted in some states; and nowhere need 

 be more than the word "seal" and not a real 



