On October 3, 1942 the Calgary Herald reported that the shortest will was four words, “Jake everything is yours”, handwritten on a piece of paper by his cousin Reinhard Z. Nice  and recorded at Norristown Pennsylvania by Registrar of Wills, John H. Hoffman. The estate was valued at $16,000 (which would have bought a house in those days).

On November 29, 1965 the Windsor Star reported that the shortest will in England was from a case in 1906 where the will admitted to probate was the three words: “All for mother”. It involved the case of Thorn versus Dickens which was a dispute between the deceased’s mother and the deceased’s widow.

On July 9, 1979 the Vancouver Sun reported that – According to Guinness – the shortest will in the world was the two words: “Vse Zene” the Czech for “All to wife” dated January 19, 1967 by Herr Karl Tausch of Langen, Hesse, Germany.

Thanks for reading!
James Jacuta