Guide · updated 2026-08-02
What a self-proving affidavit does, and where a notary is not the point
In almost every state a notary is not what makes a will valid. The notarised part is a separate affidavit that lets a will be admitted to probate without tracking witnesses down. Two states break the pattern, in opposite directions.
Two different documents doing two different jobs
A will is executed under its state's formalities: signed by the testator, usually witnessed by two people, sometimes with extra conditions on how and when. A self-proving affidavit is a separate sworn statement, taken before a notary, in which the testator and witnesses attest that those formalities were observed. Its effect is procedural: it lets the will be admitted to probate without producing the witnesses years later, when they may be unavailable or unable to remember. Most states supply the affidavit's exact wording in their probate code. Skipping it does not make a will invalid; it makes proving the will slower.
Colorado makes the notary an alternative
Colorado's execution section, following an amendment to its version of the uniform code, accepts a will that is signed by the testator and acknowledged before a notary as validly executed with no witnesses at all. That is a genuine alternative route rather than a supplement, and it makes Colorado one of the few states where 'notarised' and 'validly executed' can describe the same act. Summaries listing Colorado as a two-witness state are describing one of its two routes.
Louisiana requires the notary
Louisiana's civil law tradition produces the opposite rule. Its notarial testament is executed in the presence of a notary and two witnesses, with an attestation clause the code specifies, and the notary is part of what makes the instrument valid rather than part of what makes it easy to prove. Maryland goes further in the other direction again: it has no statutory self-proving mechanism at all, so the affidavit route simply does not exist there.
How to check your own state
The requirement table reports, for each state we have verified, the minimum age, the witness count, whether a self-proving affidavit is available, whether handwritten wills are recognised, and whether electronic wills are authorised — each cell citing the probate code section it came from. What that table does not do is tell you whether a particular document satisfies those requirements. That is a question for a lawyer licensed where you live, and the statute link beside each cell is where they would start too.
Official sources for this guide
Now do the math →
📋 Will Requirements by State
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