Does a Last Will and Testament Have to be Notarized?
A Last Will and Testament is important if you want your spouse, children, or other beneficiaries to inherit a portion of your estate after your death.
Some people hire an estate planning attorney to ensure the legality of their paperwork, while others create their own Wills.
This process is not necessarily difficult, but the process of ensuring that the document is legally valid is. How can you ensure that your final wishes are carried out? Is notarization necessary? What else can you do? Whether you self-prove your Will or not, this process ensures that a court will accept it without further evidence of its proper execution, reducing the risk a court will contest the document after your death. The first step towards self-proving a Will is to have it notarized. In accordance with the law, the testator must sign his or her document in front of two witnesses and a notary. The court system will accept the Will at face value once this is done, without requiring any other proof that the Will was properly signed by you and your witnesses. The affidavit of proof that the Will is valid is contained in a section of the Will immediately preceding the notary signature and seal; without it, more proof will be needed that the testator and witnesses properly signed the Will. Typically, if the Will is not self-proved, one of the witnesses will be required to provide an oath in front of either a judge or court clerk in order to prove its validity. The proper execution of a Will that has not been self-proven might not stand up in court. Your beneficiaries or loved ones may have a more difficult time getting your Will admitted to court if it is not self-proved. At least one witness will have to sign a witness oath at the courthouse, which can greatly slow down the process. Expenses and costs associated with estate settlement will also likely increase.