Glossary

Self-proving affidavit

A sworn statement attached to a will that lets it be admitted to probate without tracking the witnesses down later.

Self-proving is about proof, not validity. A will without one can be perfectly valid; the affidavit simply saves the estate from having to locate witnesses years afterwards and ask them to testify. This is the source of the most common misunderstanding about notaries and wills. In almost every state a notary is not required to make a will valid — the notary's role is in the self-proving affidavit. Louisiana is the well-known exception, requiring a notary and two witnesses to execute its notarial testament. Colorado is the opposite kind of exception: there a notarised will is validly executed with no witnesses at all. Some states supply the affidavit form in the statute; others recognise the practice without prescribing wording; Maryland has no statutory self-proving mechanism at all.

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