Alaska: Will Execution Requirements
The short answer
To make a valid will in Alaska you must be at least 18 and of sound mind, put the will in writing, and sign it (or have someone sign for you in your conscious presence and at your direction). Two witnesses must then each sign within a reasonable time after watching you sign or hearing you acknowledge the will. Notarization is never required — a self-proving affidavit is an optional extra that speeds up probate. Alaska also recognizes a handwritten (holographic) will with no witnesses if your signature and the material portions are in your own handwriting. Alaska does not allow electronic wills, and it has no harmless-error rule, so a will that misses a required formality generally cannot be saved.
Ask Ezel about your situation
This is the general rule in Alaska. Ezel applies current Alaska law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Alaska Uniform Probate Code, AS Title 13, Chapter 12, Article 5 (Wills). Core execution statute is AS 13.12.502; AS 13.12.501 sets who may make a will, AS 13.12.504 the self-proving affidavit, AS 13.12.505 who may witness, and AS 13.12.506 the choice-of-law rule. Alaska enacted the UPC will-execution article but did NOT adopt the UPC harmless-error provision (UPC § 2-503) — there is no AS 13.12.503 in the code; the article runs 502 then 504 |
|---|---|
| Minimum age & capacity | 'An individual 18 or more years of age who is of sound mind may make a will' (AS 13.12.501). No emancipated- or married-minor exception; 18 is the floor. 'Sound mind' is not defined by statute; Alaska applies the familiar testamentary-capacity test — the testator must know they are making a will, know the natural objects of their bounty (the people who would normally inherit), and understand the nature and extent of their property. Capacity is measured at the moment of signing |
| Writing & signature | Must be in writing and 'signed by the testator or in the testator's name by another individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction' (AS 13.12.502(a)(1)-(2)). A proxy may sign for you only in your conscious presence and at your direction. There is no signature-at-the-end rule — Alaska courts accept a signature anywhere on the document, and even the testator's handwritten name embedded in the text, if intended as the signature |
| Witnesses required | Two witnesses, each of whom 'signs within a reasonable time after' witnessing either the signing of the will or the testator's acknowledgment of the signature or of the will (AS 13.12.502(a)(3)) — the UPC 'reasonable time' rule, so the two witnesses need NOT all be present at the same time and may sign somewhat later. Any person 'generally competent to be a witness' may witness (AS 13.12.505(a)). Interested witness: 'The signing of a will by an interested witness does not invalidate the will or a provision of it' (AS 13.12.505(b)) — the modern no-effect rule, so a beneficiary-witness keeps the gift |
| Notarization & self-proving | Notarization is never required to make an Alaska will valid, and — unlike a handful of UPC states — a notary is NOT an alternative to witnesses. A self-proving affidavit is optional: under AS 13.12.504 the testator and witnesses may swear an affidavit before a notary, either at signing or later, letting the will be admitted to probate without live witness testimony. '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' (AS 13.12.504(c)) |
| Handwritten (holographic) wills | Yes. A will that does not meet the witnessing rules 'is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and material portions of the document are in the testator's handwriting' (AS 13.12.502(b)). Only the signature and the material (dispositive) provisions must be handwritten — printed or typed non-material text (as on a fill-in-the-blank form) does not defeat it. There is no date requirement, and the signature need not be at the end |
| Electronic & remote wills | Not permitted. Alaska's execution statute requires a physical written will signed and witnessed in person (AS 13.12.502); the state has not enacted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act or any electronic-will statute, and there is no electronic-wills chapter in Title 13. A 2021 bill (SB 90) that would have authorized electronic and remotely-witnessed wills died in the 32nd Legislature, and the COVID-era temporary will measures have expired. An electronic or remotely-witnessed will is not valid under current Alaska law |
| Harmless-error / curative doctrine | No. Alaska adopted the UPC will-execution article but not the UPC harmless-error provision (UPC § 2-503, 'writings intended as wills'): the enacted code has no AS 13.12.503 — the wills article runs from 502 straight to 504. Alaska is a strict-compliance state: a will that misses a required formality generally cannot be rescued by proof that the testator intended the document as their will. (A draft of the 1996 enacting bill proposed a harmless-error section, but it was not carried into the enacted statute.) |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Requirements one by one
Governing law
Alaska's will-execution rules are in the Alaska Statutes, Title 13 (Decedents' Estates), Chapter 12,
Article 5 (Wills) — Alaska's version of the Uniform Probate Code. The core statute is AS 13.12.502,
which sets the writing, signature, and witness requirements and recognizes holographic wills;
AS 13.12.501 says who may make a will; AS 13.12.504 is the self-proving affidavit; AS 13.12.505
covers who may witness; and AS 13.12.506 is the choice-of-law rule. Alaska took most of the UPC will
article, but with two notable gaps for a UPC state: it did not adopt a notarized-will option (a notary
cannot stand in for the witnesses here), and it did not adopt the UPC harmless-error rule — there is no
AS 13.12.503 in the code, which runs from 502 straight to 504.
Minimum age & capacity
"An individual 18 or more years of age who is of sound mind may make a will" (AS 13.12.501). Eighteen
is the floor, with no exception for an emancipated or married minor. You must also be of sound mind.
The statute does not define "sound mind"; Alaska courts apply the familiar test: you must know that you
are making a will, know the people who would normally receive your property (the natural objects of
your bounty), and understand the general nature and extent of what you own. Capacity is judged at the
moment you sign.
Writing & signature
An Alaska will must be in writing and "signed by the testator or in the testator's name by another
individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction" (AS 13.12.502(a)).
If you cannot sign yourself, someone may sign for you — but only in your conscious presence, meaning
you are aware it is happening, and at your direction. Alaska has no rule that the signature appear at
the end of the document; a signature anywhere can work, and Alaska's courts have accepted even a
testator's handwritten name written into the body of the document as the signature when the testator
intended it as such.
Witnesses required
Alaska requires two witnesses. Each must sign "within a reasonable time after" witnessing either your
signing of the will or your acknowledgment of the signature or of the will (AS 13.12.502(a)(3)). This
is the Uniform Probate Code's relaxed "reasonable time" rule: the two witnesses do not have to be
present at the same time, and they may sign somewhat later, so long as it is within a reasonable time.
A witness need only be someone "generally competent to be a witness" (AS 13.12.505(a)) — that is,
anyone able to testify in court about what they saw.
On interested witnesses, Alaska uses the modern no-effect rule: "The signing of a will by an interested
witness does not invalidate the will or a provision of it" (AS 13.12.505(b)). A beneficiary who also
serves as a witness keeps the gift, and the will stands. Using two disinterested witnesses is still good
practice, because it removes an argument for undue influence, but it is not required for validity.
Notarization & self-proving
Notarization is never required to make an Alaska will valid, and — unlike Colorado, North Dakota, or
Utah — a notary is not an alternative to the two witnesses here. What a notary can do is make the will
"self-proving." Under AS 13.12.504, the testator and the two witnesses may swear an affidavit before a
notary, either at the time of signing or any time afterward, so that the will can be admitted to probate
without bringing the witnesses back to testify. Alaska also treats "a signature affixed to a self-proving
affidavit attached to a will [as] a signature affixed to the will, if necessary to prove the will's due
execution" (AS 13.12.504(c)). It is optional, but it makes probate simpler.
Handwritten (holographic) wills
Alaska recognizes holographic wills. Under AS 13.12.502(b), a will that does not meet the witnessing
rules "is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and material portions
of the document are in the testator's handwriting." Only the signature and the material (dispositive)
provisions must be in your own hand, so a fill-in-the-blank form on which you handwrite the important
terms can qualify — the printed, non-material text does not defeat it. There is no date requirement, and
the signature need not be at the end. A holographic will needs no witnesses at all.
Electronic & remote wills
Alaska does not permit an electronic or remotely-witnessed will. The execution statute (AS 13.12.502)
requires a physical written will, signed and witnessed in person, and Alaska has not enacted the Uniform
Electronic Wills Act or any other electronic-will statute — there is no electronic-wills chapter in
Title 13. A 2021 bill (SB 90) that would have authorized electronic and remote wills died in the 32nd
Legislature, and the temporary COVID-era will measures have since expired. An Alaska will still has to
be a signed paper document witnessed by two people who are physically present.
Harmless-error / curative doctrine
Alaska has no harmless-error rule. Many Uniform Probate Code states adopted UPC § 2-503, which lets a
court treat a defective document as a valid will on clear and convincing evidence that the person meant
it as their will. Alaska did not: the enacted wills article has no AS 13.12.503 — it runs from the
execution section (502) directly to the self-proving section (504). So a will that misses a required
formality generally cannot be rescued in probate by showing the testator's intent. (A draft of the 1996
bill that enacted Alaska's UPC did propose a "writings intended as wills" section, but it was not carried
into the law that passed.) Alaska is a strict-compliance state; get the formalities right the first time.
What trips people up
Two witnesses are still required for a typed will — a notary is not enough. Notarizing a typed will
does nothing to satisfy the witness requirement in Alaska, because a notary is not a witness and cannot
replace one. A typed will needs two people to witness it under AS 13.12.502(a)(3); the notarized
self-proving affidavit is a separate, optional add-on.
There is no harmless-error fix. Because Alaska never adopted UPC § 2-503, a signing mistake generally
cannot be excused later, no matter how clearly you intended the document as your will. Follow one of the
two valid paths exactly — two witnesses, or a fully handwritten (holographic) will.
A handwritten will's key terms must be in your own hand. A holographic will requires the signature
and the material provisions to be handwritten (AS 13.12.502(b)). If the parts that give away your
property are typed or in someone else's writing, it is not a valid holographic will and needs two
witnesses instead.
"Electronic will" tools do not produce a valid Alaska will. Alaska has not authorized electronic or
remotely-witnessed wills. A will signed on a screen or witnessed over video is not valid here; the will
must be a signed paper document witnessed in person.
Common questions
Do the two witnesses have to be in the room at the same time? Not necessarily. Alaska uses the
"reasonable time" rule (AS 13.12.502(a)(3)): each witness must sign within a reasonable time after
watching you sign or hearing you acknowledge the will, but they need not all be present together. In
practice, having both witness and sign at once is the safest approach.
Can I write my own will by hand without witnesses? Yes. Alaska recognizes holographic wills: if your
signature and the material provisions are in your own handwriting, the will is valid with no witnesses
(AS 13.12.502(b)). Make sure every important term — who gets what — is in your own hand.
Does my will have to be notarized? No. Notarization is never required to make an Alaska will valid.
Notarizing a self-proving affidavit (AS 13.12.504) is optional and only makes probate faster; it does
not replace the witnesses.
Can a person who inherits under my will also be a witness? Yes, in Alaska. An interested witness does
not invalidate the will or the gift (AS 13.12.505(b)). It is still better to use disinterested witnesses
to avoid any later claim of undue influence, but the will remains valid.
Statutes and sources
- AS 13.12.501 — who may make a will: an individual 18 or older of sound mind.
https://law.justia.com/codes/alaska/title-13/chapter-12/article-5/section-13-12-501/ (accessed 2026-07-11) - AS 13.12.502 — execution: writing, the testator's signature (or a proxy in the testator's conscious presence), and two witnesses each signing within a reasonable time; holographic wills valid if the signature and material portions are handwritten.
https://law.justia.com/codes/alaska/title-13/chapter-12/article-5/section-13-12-502/ (accessed 2026-07-11) - AS 13.12.504 — self-proving affidavit; a signature on the affidavit counts as a signature on the will if needed to prove due execution.
https://law.justia.com/codes/alaska/title-13/chapter-12/article-5/section-13-12-504/ (accessed 2026-07-11) - AS 13.12.505 — who may witness (generally competent); an interested witness does not invalidate the will.
https://law.justia.com/codes/alaska/title-13/chapter-12/article-5/section-13-12-505/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
Get the answer for your situation
You just read how Alaska handles this in general. Ezel applies current Alaska law to your facts and answers your specific question, with citations.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer cites the authority it relies on.