does a will need to be notarized and signed by 2 witnesses?

[Pluperfect]

I needed two witnesses for my will, and I chose my son and his girlfriend. Even though my son is one of the beneficiaries of my estate, that is permissible under Idaho law.

Wow. This is the first time I've heard of a state where that's permissible.

I wonder if it's a relic of when Idaho had a very small, dispersed population, and allowing this was an expedient to having a valid will.

That was one reason common law marriages were allowed way back when--there might not be someone around to legally marry a couple.

 

[imnontrad]

Each state has their own laws as to how many witnesses (and related or not) are necessary for the will to be valid in that state.
Many attorneys will tell you that they make a nice income when heirs contest these wills not drawn up by an experienced lawyer in their state.

 

[ali]

I wrote a will to get my sil through a time when she is worried. At the end of the will it has areas for her signature, a notary republic stamp and two witnesses. Are they all necessary or will the notary public cover the situation? I live in Iowa, United States.
s

It depends what your state rules require But most all require 2 witnesses and many also require notarization (IE Florida, Pa, NJ since we lived in all three states and a notary plus 2 witnesses were required for all of them. So you need to check for Your state ! In Florida our bank did the notary so that might be a good place for you to start asking the questions regarding wills in Your state (if you don't have a lawyer doing Your will)

 

[SecondCor521]

Wow. This is the first time I've heard of a state where that's permissible.

Yeah, I specifically checked because it was convenient for my situation to have them do it and I was concerned about it. Idaho's laws are pretty clear and easy to read.

I wonder if it's a relic of when Idaho had a very small, dispersed population, and allowing this was an expedient to having a valid will.

Idaho still has a very small, dispersed population! ;-)

 

[Pluperfect]

It depends what your state rules require But most all require 2 witnesses and many also require notarization (IE Florida, Pa, NJ since we lived in all three states and a notary plus 2 witnesses were required for all of them

In those three states, notarization is not required for the will to be valid. It is required if the will is to be self-proven, but that has nothing to do with the validity of the will itself.

According to a quick internet search, Louisiana is the only state that requires a notary's signature in order for a will to be valid. Of course, the majority of the websites probably just get their information from other sites, but I'm not going to check each state's statutes to confirm. But it does make sense that Louisiana could be an outlier, since its laws are based on the Napoleonic Code and the common wisdom is to assume nothing about Louisiana laws based on what goes on in every other state.

 

[FD1000]

I wrote a will to get my sil through a time when she is worried. At the end of the will it has areas for her signature, a notary republic stamp and two witnesses. Are they all necessary or will the notary public cover the situation? I live in Iowa, United States.
s

Yes, a notary and two witnesses are required.

I created a new last year. My bank refused to notarize it because they don’t want to risk being dragged into court.
I found a UPS Store that provides both notary services and witnesses (most don’t), and the total cost was about $15–$20.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

My attorney would not let us out of their office until we signed our wills and trusts in front of them, they provided witnesses and notary. After spending $5k on the legal work why would I want to take it to a random notary with a couple buddies as witnesses.

My dad had a codicil to his will. He signed it but it wasn't witnessed or notarized properly. It wasn't even considered to be valid at the time the will was opened. The attorney handling the estate remembered writing the codicil, he just mailed it to my dad and told him to sign it before a notary and two witnesses. My dad didn't do it right and it was thrown out.

I'm a long time notary and have seen it all, I have refused some situations and told them to have their attorney handle it instead. Some people think a notary has magical power.

 

[kumquat]

Just pay a lawyer to do it. It's dumb to risk your estate wishes to save $500 - $1K.

 

[Buckeye]

My attorney would not let us out of their office until we signed our wills and trusts in front of them, they provided witnesses and notary. After spending $5k on the legal work why would I want to take it to a random notary with a couple buddies as witnesses.

My dad had a codicil to his will. He signed it but it wasn't witnessed or notarized properly. It wasn't even considered to be valid at the time the will was opened. The attorney handling the estate remembered writing the codicil, he just mailed it to my dad and told him to sign it before a notary and two witnesses. My dad didn't do it right and it was thrown out.

I'm a long time notary and have seen it all, I have refused some situations and told them to have their attorney handle it instead. Some people think a notary has magical power.

$5,000? Wow!

 

[brett]

.....only if you want your will, and your wishes as they pertain to your estate and to your beneficiaries, to stand up to legal scrutiny and to potential legal challenges after you pass.

Otherwise...why bother?

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Wills and trusts...$5k is about normal, maybe low. It took both hands to carry the papework out of the office, it was heavy.

This is in a small town in the upper midwest.

 

[athena53]

In Iowa wills need two witness signatures as well as the testator's signature. It appears that all three signatures being notarized makes the will "self-proving," otherwise the witnesses may need to testify in court to get the probate court to accept the will as valid.

This was similar to how it worked in Ohio when I spent summers working with attorneys who handled wills and estates. (I am not an attorney, either.) A will could just have the signature of the testator and two non-beneficiary witnesses but then at probate they'd have to track down the witnesses and verify that they'd witnessed the signing. I'm not sure what you did if the witnesses were dead or otherwise unreachable. They introduced "self-proving affidavits" in which the witnesses signed a statement in the presence of the notary saying they'd been present at the signing, the testator was of sound mind and not under any duress, etc. That statement was then notarized and kept with the will and there was no need to track down the witnesses when the will was probated.

I do agree that you need to consult a lawyer. I used Nolo Press Willmaker software when I was married to the Ex somewhere around 1990- we had a child, owned a house and I knew I'd never get him to a lawyer. From what I knew of how wills had to be written, it worked very well- asked a lot of questions then then generated the text. We had non-beneficiary family members witness it.

 

[goodtogo]

One of the top 3 things I live by...better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Lawyers can be wrong, judges can be wrong too. Keep these decisions tight.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I am not an attorney. I ran a small business in a small town and served as the local notary public for decades. For some odd reason people think having a document signed by a notary makes it legally binding. Heck, no, it just means the notary witnessed your signature under oath and penalty of law. (Made me think twice quite often)

When I was working in my business I'd have people come in with home drawn "legal documents" such as wills, rental agreements, pre-nups, purchase agreements and ask me to notarize them. Often written on a yellow legal pad. I told them "have your attorney send it to me and I will do it for free" Few came back, if any.

I am 60. I have never been to court on my own problems but have been for other people's problems with documents I notarized. Some for an attorney friend who is the reason I was a notary in the first place. Never got paid a dime.

Don't be a notary....