If you're at least 18 years old and mentally stable, you can create a will. Also, a court-approved conservator can make a will for someone they take care of (a conservatee). However, if the conservatee is mentally capable, they can change or cancel that will, or make a new one.

In California, a person can't make a will if they lack mental capacity at that time. They must fully understand the nature of making a will, know what's in their property, and remember their relationships with family members who are impacted by the will. If someone has a mental health disorder, like delusions or hallucinations, that affects how they distribute their property in their will, they are also considered incompetent. However, a court can allow a conservator to make a will for someone under their care if they have permission from the court.

This law section explains what kind of property a person can decide to include in their will. It specifies that a will can cover three types of property: the person's own separate property, half of the shared property they own with a spouse, and half of the quasi-community property, which is similar to community property but relates to assets acquired while living in another state.

A will can give property to anyone or any entity. This includes people, corporations, clubs, local governments, states, the U.S. government, or even a foreign country or its agencies.

This law states that some chapters in the probate code and certain parts of division 11 do not apply to cases where the person who made the will (the testator) died before January 1, 1985. Instead, the laws that were in place before that date still apply to those cases.

If someone is forced, threatened, tricked, or unfairly influenced into making or canceling a will, that part of the will doesn't count and won't be effective.

This law says that if a will includes a specific condition for its validity, the will's acceptance or rejection in probate court will be based on whether that condition is met. If it gets into probate and the condition isn't satisfied, it won't take effect.