does a will have to be notarized to be valid

When a person dies intestate, their loved ones are required to go through a complex legal process to have the estate distributed. This raises the opportunity for confusion, conflict and disappointment. This means that while you may have intended for your favourite niece to inherit money for her education, she may not receive anything if you don’t specify this in your will. The law has specific rules about how property is distributed, and these rules may or may not align with your wishes. While it’s true that there are laws that set out how property is distributed when a person dies without a valid will (called “dying intestate”), not having a will creates many challenges for your loved ones. You might be asking yourself, what’s the big deal about not having a valid will? Aren’t there laws that deal with this? A valid will is essential for anyone who is legally married, has a common law spouse or is recently separated but not divorced. It’s the easiest way to ensure that your wishes for the distribution of your property are followed after you die, and can help avoid disputes and confusion that may arise regarding your estate.Įvery adult needs a valid will, whether or not they have a lot of property. Why do I need a will?Ī valid will is a very important document. What is a will?Ī will is a legal document that sets out who will inherit their estate (their property, possessions and other personal items) when someone dies. In this blog post, we discuss the requirements for signing wills in Ontario, and how Downtown Notary can help. Thus, hiring an attorney to handle your estate planning should be the easiest manner of doing this.Everyone should have a will - but do you know what you need to do to create one? Of course, most estate planning lawyers will provide the necessary witnesses and notary, and make sure everything is executed properly. The notary will ask all of you to take a sworn oath, and, finally, the notary will sign and stamp the document, indicating that the document was “sworn to, and acknowledged by” the testator and both witnesses. Once you've indicated that your document is correct and have signed it, your witnesses will each take a turn signing the Will in all places where required. Then, you will sign your Will in all places required. Everyone will also need to bring a form of legal identification sufficient for notarization purposes (driver's license, passport, etc.).įirst, the notary will make note of the identification of each person and will record the type of ID everyone is using. Bring your witnesses and your completed (but unsigned) Will to the appointment. First, make an appointment with a notary at a time that you and your proposed witnesses (you'll need two of them) are available and will be all together at the same time. The steps toward getting your Will self-proved (notarized) are fairly simple, though not nearly as simple as notarizing most legal documents. If the Will is not self-proved, then, typically, one of the witnesses will need to provide an oath in front of either a judge or clerk of the court, to prove the Will’s valid execution. 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. You can read more about Florida Statute 732.503 that further addresses self-proving a Will here. Once this is done, you can pretty much be assured that the Florida court system will accept the Will at face value without requiring any other proof that the Will was, in fact, properly signed (executed) by you and the witnesses. The testator (that's the person who signs the Will for himself or herself) is responsible for making sure that they sign their document in front of two witnesses and, yes, a notary, in the manner specifically prescribed by law. One of the steps towards self-proving a Will is to have it notarized in the manner required for self-proof. Though not required by law, the process of making sure that a court will accept your Will without further evidence of proper execution of the document, is called 'self-proving.' This helps ensure that the Will is properly executed it also reduces the risk that the document will be challenged after your death.

Does a will have to be notarized to be valid