ABA Family Legal Guide

Estate Planning

Wills

Are there any special legal formalities required to make my will legally valid?

After you've drawn up your will, there remains one step: the formal legal procedure called executing the will. This requires witnesses to your signing of the will. In almost all states, the signature of at least two witnesses is required. In some states, a will is not deemed legally valid unless the witnesses appear in court and testify about witnessing the will. However, in a growing number of states, a will can be "self-proved"—that is, the will is accepted as valid and the witnesses will not be required to appear and testify if, at the time the will was executed, the witnesses' signatures were notarized and each witness submits an affidavit attesting to the fact that he or she witnessed the signing of the will.