---
type: "Bill"
title: "Statutory wills: form."
description: "Existing law requires, for a statutory will to be properly executed that the testator complete the appropriate blanks and sign the will and that 2 witnesses observe the testator's signing and each witness sign his or her name in the presence of the testator. However, the form used for a statutory will also requires the witnesses to sign in each other's presence."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20092010"
identifier: "AB 1986"
citation: "California AB 1986 (20092010)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Statutory wills: form."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Silva"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 17
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2010-02-17"
last_action: "2010-07-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/75198fe4-8c56-4ed5-9b9f-752e30602cf3"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB1986"
source_hash: "e0ee4f4f2038b4258c34c1d61e79874c9ccf4313ca1201ff75e40884b210f54b"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 1986 (20092010) — Statutory wills: form.

Existing law requires, for a statutory will to be properly executed that the testator complete the appropriate blanks and sign the will and that 2 witnesses observe the testator's signing and each witness sign his or her name in the presence of the testator. However, the form used for a statutory will also requires the witnesses to sign in each other's presence.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/17/10 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB1986&version=20090AB198699INT)
2. **06/16/10 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB1986&version=20090AB198698AMD)
3. **07/15/10 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB1986&version=20090AB198696CHP)
4. **AB1986** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB1986)
5. **06/30/10 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=200920100AB1986&version=20090AB198697ENR)

## Votes

- AB 1986 SILVA Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, to Consent Calendar. — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended. To Consent Calendar. — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Consent Calendar 2nd AB1986 Silva — **pass** (pass) · upper
- AB 1986 SILVA Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **pass** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Silva — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2010-02-17** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2010-02-18** From printer. May be heard in committee March 20.
- **2010-02-18** (Corrected February 18.)
- **2010-03-04** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2010-03-23** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (March 23). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2010-03-24** Read second time. To Consent Calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2010-04-05** Read third time, passed, and to Senate. (Ayes 76. Noes 0. Page 4452.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2010-04-05** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2010-04-29** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2010-06-15** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. To Consent Calendar. (June 10). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2010-06-16** Read second time and amended. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2010-06-24** Read third time, passed, and to Assembly. (Ayes 31. Noes 0. Page 4056.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2010-06-24** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after June 26 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2010-06-28** Senate amendments concurred in. To enrollment. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 5845.) `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2010-07-06** Enrolled and to the Governor at 10:30 a.m.
- **2010-07-15** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2010-07-15** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 88, Statutes of 2010.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/75198fe4-8c56-4ed5-9b9f-752e30602cf3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).