No, you can't just text your last will and testament to someone, court rules

Dear friends and family: If you've ever gotten a drunken text from me about one day owning my prized possessions when I'm outta here, unfortunately, that's all null and void.

According to a recent ruling from a French court, a text message of someone's last will and testament actually has no legal value. My bad.

As the BBC reported, the case was brought to court because of a dispute. In a text message to his sibling, a man mentioned that he wanted a portion of his estate given to his mother after he dies. When the man tragically took his own life in 2016, his wishes were reportedly ignored — so the mother took the texts to court.

Ultimately, she lost her case. According to the court, via the BBC's reporting, "a will can only be valid if it has been written by hand, dated and signed." This is reportedly to make sure the will is not forged or a mistake.

For what it's worth, while the ruling in France may not apply everywhere, you probably won't have any more luck texting your will in the United States. Wills typically need a signature of some sort in addition to witnesses, who also have to sign the thing.

For all you romantics out there, this unfortunately means you can't sky-write your last testament. Or send a GIF representing who gets what.

But the ruling in France still leaves you with plenty of creative options. Maybe write it all out on a piece of wood, or fold it up into a cool origami puppet. Just no Notes app wills, please. I beg you. (Obviously check with a lawyer IRL before doing, well, any of this.)

While we're at it, maybe people should stop divorcing others over text messages, too. Just an idea.