萬國法律事務所

According to Article 1194 of Taiwan’s Civil Code, a testator hoping to successfully create a valid dictated will must designate at least three witnesses, make an oral statement of his testamentary wishes, and have these wishes written down, read over and explained by one of the witnesses. Until recently, the term “written down” was interpreted by the Ministry of the Interior as handwriting only and did not include testamentary wishes written using a typewriter. Thus, typewriting did not satisfy the formal requirement of producing a dictated will, and typewritten dictated wills were previously deemed to be void.

However, a recent judgment rendered by the Taipei High Administrative Court held that the previous interpretation of the term “written down” does not reflect the situation of modern society, and improperly limits the application of Article 1194 of the Civil Code. Thus, a typewritten dictated will produced by a typewriter or computer word processor shall from now on be deemed valid, and heirs may use such typewritten dictated will to apply for inheritance registration with the authorities.