What’s the difference between a public will and a secret will in Malta?

Under the Civil Code, Chapter 16 of the Laws of Malta, a public will is received and published by a notary in the presence of two witnesses, following the usual formalities applicable to a public notarial deed, and while the will is described as 'public' in the sense that its existence is made public through registration in the Public Registry, the actual contents of the will itself remain confidential and are not publicly disclosed during your lifetime, contrary to what the term might suggest. A secret will, by contrast, may be written by you personally or by a third party on your behalf, and is then sealed and delivered to a notary, who draws up a formal act of delivery recording that the sealed will was received, after which the notary deposits the sealed will with the Court of Voluntary Jurisdiction, meaning the contents remain entirely unknown to the notary and everyone else until it is eventually opened following your death, offering an additional layer of privacy during the drafting and storage process itself. Which option might suit you better generally depends on your personal preference regarding privacy during the drafting process and how comfortable you are with a notary being directly involved in preparing the document itself, and a notary can talk you through the practical implications of each option in more detail based on your specific circumstances and preferences.