Self-proved wills; sample form; signature requirements

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14-2504. Self-proved wills; sample form; signature requirements

A. A will may be simultaneously executed, attested and made self-proved by its acknowledgment by the testator and by affidavits of the witnesses if the acknowledgment and affidavits are made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which execution occurs and are evidenced by the officer's certificate, under official seal, in substantially the following form:

I, _______________, the testator, sign my name to this instrument this _____ day of _______________, and being first duly sworn, do declare to the undersigned authority that I sign and execute this instrument as my will and that I sign it willingly, or willingly direct another to sign for me, that I execute it as my free and voluntary act for the purposes expressed in that document and that I am eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind and under no constraint or undue influence.

_______________________

Testator

We, _______________, _______________, the witnesses, sign our names to this instrument being first duly sworn and do declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signs and executes this instrument as his/her will and that he/she signs it willingly, or willingly directs another to sign for him/her, and that each of us, in the presence and hearing of the testator, signs this will as witness to the testator's signing and that to the best of our knowledge the testator is eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind and under no constraint or undue influence.

____________________

Witness

____________________

Witness

The State of ______________

County of _________________

Subscribed, sworn to and acknowledged before me by ______________, the testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me by _______________ and _______________, witnesses, this _____ day of _______________.

(Seal)

(Signed)______________________

______________________________

(Official capacity of officer)

B. An attested will may be made self-proved at any time after its execution by its acknowledgment by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which the acknowledgment occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under the official seal, attached or annexed to the will in substantially the following form:

The State of _______________

County of __________________

We, ________________, _________________ and _____________, the testator and the witnesses, respectively, whose names are signed to the attached or foregoing instrument being first duly sworn do declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signed and executed the instrument as the testator's will and that he/she signed willingly, or willingly directed another to sign for him/her, and that he/she executed it as his/her free and voluntary act for the purposes expressed in that document, and that each of the witnesses, in the presence and hearing of the testator, signed the will as witness and that to the best of his/her knowledge the testator was at that time eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind and under no constraint or undue influence.

_________________________

Testator

_________________________

Witness

_________________________

Witness

Subscribed, sworn to and acknowledged before me by _____________, the testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me by ____________ and ____________, witnesses, this _____ day of _______________.

(Seal)

(Signed)______________________

______________________________

(Official capacity of officer)

C. A signature affixed to a self-proving affidavit attached to a will is considered a signature affixed to the will, if necessary to prove the will's due execution.


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