Indiana: Will Execution Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Indiana's will-execution rules sit in two places. The core is the Probate Code, Ind.
Code Title 29, Article 1, Chapter 5: § 29-1-5-1 says who may make a will, § 29-1-5-2
covers the writing requirement and witnesses, and § 29-1-5-3 sets the signing-and-witness
ceremony (and, since 2021, a way to execute a paper will remotely in counterparts).
Separately, Chapter 21 — added in 2018 and expanded in 2019 and 2021 — is a full
Electronic Wills Act. Indiana is a traditional two-witness state that has also built out
one of the more complete electronic- and remote-execution regimes in the country. What it
does not have is a holographic (handwritten, unwitnessed) will.

Minimum age & capacity

To make an Indiana will you must be "of sound mind" and either 18 or older, "or … younger
and a member of the armed forces, or of the merchant marine of the United States, or its
allies" (§ 29-1-5-1). "Sound mind" is the ordinary testamentary-capacity standard: you
understand that you are making a will, know in a general way what you own, and know the
people who would normally inherit from you.

Writing & signature

Every will except a narrow deathbed oral will "shall be executed in writing"
(§ 29-1-5-2(a)). You meet the signature step by signing the will yourself, acknowledging a
signature you already made, or — if you cannot sign — directing another person to sign
your name "in the testator's presence" (§ 29-1-5-3(b)(1)). All of this happens in front of
the two witnesses. Indiana has no rule that the signature appear at the very end. An
electronic will is signed instead with the testator's electronic signature under Chapter
21.

Witnesses required

An Indiana will needs two witnesses. First, "in the presence of two (2) or more attesting
witnesses," you signify that the document is your will and sign, acknowledge, or direct a
signature (§ 29-1-5-3(b)(1)). Then "the attesting witnesses must sign in the presence of
the testator and each other" (§ 29-1-5-3(b)(2)) — everyone is together for the signing.
Any person competent to testify may serve (§ 29-1-5-2(b)).

The interested-witness rule is more forgiving than an outright purge. Under § 29-1-5-2(c),
if a witness is also a beneficiary, the gift to that witness is "void only as to him" —
and only if the will "cannot be proved without his testimony." If the will can be proved
by the other witness or other evidence, the gift stands. Even when the gift is voided, the
witness still keeps up to what he would have inherited had there been no will. And being
named executor, trustee, guardian, or the estate's lawyer does not make a witness
"interested" at all (§ 29-1-5-2(d)). The safe practice is still to use two witnesses who
inherit nothing.

Notarization & self-proving

An Indiana will does not have to be notarized to be valid — a notary is not one of the two
required witnesses. Indiana's optional self-proving clause (§ 29-1-5-3.1) is unusual: the
testator and witnesses sign a statutory clause that "may be made under the penalties for
perjury," so it does not strictly require a notary the way most states' self-proving
affidavits do. If that clause is signed at the same time as the will, "no other signatures
of the testator and witnesses are required for the will to be validly executed and
self-proved" (§ 29-1-5-3.1(a)) — the attestation and the self-proving step merge into one.

Handwritten (holographic) wills

Indiana does not recognize holographic wills. There is no holographic section in Chapter
5, and § 29-1-5-2(a) plus § 29-1-5-3 require every will (other than a deathbed oral will)
to be a writing attested by two witnesses. A handwritten page signed with no witnesses is
not a valid Indiana will. One exception runs the other way: under § 29-1-5-5, a will
validly executed under the law of the state where you signed it, or where you were
domiciled — including a holographic will from a state that allows them — is honored in
Indiana.

Electronic & remote wills

Indiana is among the minority of states that allow both a fully electronic will and remote
witnessing. Under the Electronic Wills Act (Chapter 21, added 2018), an electronic will is
valid when it is signed by the electronic signatures of the testator and at least two
witnesses who can "interact with each other" and "observe the testator and each other as
the electronic will is being signed," with the witnesses signing after the testator, in
the presence of the testator and of each other (§ 29-1-21-4). Separately, a conventional
paper will can be executed in two or more counterparts with the signers "interact[ing]
with each other in real time through the use of technology" — remote audio-video
witnessing — so long as an attorney or directed paralegal supervises and the signed
counterparts are physically assembled within five business days (§ 29-1-5-3(c)). Both
routes still require two witnesses and real-time mutual observation; neither lets a will be
witnessed by people who never see the signing.

Harmless-error / curative doctrine

Indiana does not have a broad harmless-error statute like the Uniform Probate Code's, so a
will that is genuinely missing a formality — for example, only one witness — is still
invalid. But the execution statute leans hard toward validating a will that essentially
complied: § 29-1-5-3(h) says the section "shall be construed in favor of effectuating the
testator's intent to make a valid will," and § 29-1-5-3(f) provides that a will "executed
substantially in compliance" is not knocked out by surplus attestation language or extra
signatures. Those provisions forgive too much, not too little. As a final backstop,
§ 29-1-5-5 honors a will validly executed under another state's law.

What trips people up

Indiana has no handwritten-will option. People often assume a signed, handwritten note
counts as a will. In Indiana it does not — you need two witnesses (§§ 29-1-5-2(a),
29-1-5-3). The only unwitnessed will Indiana recognizes is the rare deathbed oral
(nuncupative) will, which is capped at $1,000 of personal property and has strict timing
rules (§ 29-1-5-4).

The witnesses must sign together, in front of you. Section 29-1-5-3(b)(2) requires the
witnesses to sign "in the presence of the testator and each other." Collecting witness
signatures separately, later, can invalidate the will. Have both witnesses present at the
same time.

An interested witness usually does not sink the will — but can lose the gift. Under
§ 29-1-5-2(c), a gift to a witness is voided only if the will "cannot be proved without his
testimony," and even then the witness keeps up to his intestate share. So a beneficiary
signing as a witness is a risk to that beneficiary's gift, not automatically to the whole
will. Using disinterested witnesses removes the question entirely.

Electronic and remote wills have their own rules — don't improvise. Indiana genuinely
allows electronic wills (Chapter 21) and remote counterpart execution (§ 29-1-5-3(c)), but
each has specific requirements — real-time interaction, attorney or paralegal supervision
for the counterpart route, assembly deadlines, and identity verification. A will "signed"
by emailing a scanned signature around, with no live witnessing, does not qualify.

Common questions

Does my Indiana will have to be notarized? No. Indiana requires two witnesses, not a
notary (§ 29-1-5-3). Indiana's self-proving clause can even be signed "under the penalties
for perjury" without a notary (§ 29-1-5-3.1), though many people still notarize it out of
habit; either way it just speeds up probate and is not required for validity.

Can I write my Indiana will by hand with no witnesses? No. Indiana does not recognize
holographic wills — a will must be written and witnessed by two people (§§ 29-1-5-2(a),
29-1-5-3). If you already signed a valid handwritten will in a state that allows them,
Indiana will honor it under § 29-1-5-5.

Can I sign my Indiana will over video? Yes, within limits. Indiana allows a paper will
to be executed in counterparts with the testator and witnesses interacting "in real time
through the use of technology," but only under attorney or directed-paralegal supervision
and with the signed counterparts assembled within five business days (§ 29-1-5-3(c)).
Indiana also allows a fully electronic will under Chapter 21.

Can a witness also be a beneficiary? It is risky. Under § 29-1-5-2(c) the gift to a
witness can be voided if the will cannot be proved without that witness's testimony, though
the witness keeps up to his intestate share. The clean fix is to use two witnesses who
inherit nothing.

Statutes and sources

• Ind. Code § 29-1-5-1 — capacity: sound mind and 18+, or younger and in the armed forces or merchant marine.
  https://codes.findlaw.com/in/title-29-probate/in-code-sect-29-1-5-1/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Ind. Code § 29-1-5-2 — wills must be in writing; who may witness; interested-witness rule (gift void only if the will cannot be proved without the witness, saving the intestate share).
  https://codes.findlaw.com/in/title-29-probate/in-code-sect-29-1-5-2/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Ind. Code § 29-1-5-3 — core execution: two witnesses sign in the presence of the testator and each other; paper-counterpart remote execution; construed in favor of the testator's intent.
  https://codes.findlaw.com/in/title-29-probate/in-code-sect-29-1-5-3/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Ind. Code § 29-1-5-3.1 — optional self-proving clause, signable under penalties of perjury; merges attestation and self-proving when signed at execution.
  https://codes.findlaw.com/in/title-29-probate/in-code-sect-29-1-5-3-1/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Ind. Code § 29-1-5-4 — nuncupative (oral) wills: narrow imminent-peril exception, $1,000 personal-property cap ($10,000 wartime military).
  https://codes.findlaw.com/in/title-29-probate/in-code-sect-29-1-5-4/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Ind. Code § 29-1-5-5 — a will validly executed under the law of the place of signing or the testator's domicile is honored in Indiana.
  https://codes.findlaw.com/in/title-29-probate/in-code-sect-29-1-5-5/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Ind. Code § 29-1-21-1 — purpose of the Electronic Wills Act: valid execution and probate of electronically prepared and signed wills.
  https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-29/article-1/chapter-21/section-29-1-21-1/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Ind. Code § 29-1-21-4 — electronic-will execution: electronic signatures of testator and two witnesses who interact and observe each other in real time.
  https://codes.findlaw.com/in/title-29-probate/in-code-sect-29-1-21-4/ (accessed 2026-07-11)