Will Execution Requirements in Vermont

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Vermont's will-execution rules are in the Vermont Statutes, Title 14 (Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations), Chapter 1 (Wills). The core statute is 14 V.S.A. § 5, which sets the writing and witness requirements; § 1 says who may make a will; § 10 covers a witness who is also a beneficiary; and § 108 (in Chapter 3) provides the self-proving affidavit. Vermont is not a Uniform Probate Code state — it uses its own long-standing will statute, which the Legislature modernized in 2005 to require two witnesses instead of the older three. Vermont has not adopted holographic wills, electronic wills, or a harmless-error rule.

Minimum age & capacity

"Every individual 18 years of age or over or emancipated by court order who is of sound mind may make a will in writing" (§ 1). Eighteen is the usual floor, but Vermont also lets a minor who has been emancipated by court order make a will — an exception many states do not have. You must be of sound mind. The statute does not define the term; Vermont applies the familiar test: you must understand that you are making a will, know the people who would normally inherit from you (the natural objects of your bounty), and know the general nature and extent of your property. Capacity is judged at the time you sign.

Writing & signature

A Vermont will must be in writing and "signed in the presence of two or more credible witnesses by the testator or in the testator's name by some other person in the testator's presence and by the testator's express direction" (§ 5(a)). Two things stand out. First, the will must actually be signed in front of the witnesses — not signed privately and shown to them later. Second, if you cannot sign yourself, another person may sign for you, but only in your presence and at your express direction. There is no rule that the signature appear at the end of the document.

Witnesses required

Vermont requires two or more credible witnesses and uses a strict "all present together" standard. Under § 5(a), the testator signs in the presence of the witnesses, and the witnesses must attest and subscribe "in the presence of the testator and each other." In practice that means you and both witnesses are all in the room together for the signing; Vermont does not allow a witness to sign later, within a "reasonable time," the way many Uniform Probate Code states do.

On interested witnesses, Vermont uses a purging rule (§ 10). A gift to a subscribing witness — or to that witness's spouse — "shall be voidable unless there are two other competent, subscribing witnesses to the will." So if a beneficiary also serves as one of only two witnesses, their gift can be voided, though the will itself remains valid. The statute adds that a provision paying a debt does not disqualify the creditor as a witness. The clean fix is to use two disinterested witnesses so no gift is at risk.

Notarization & self-proving

Notarization is never required to make a Vermont will valid — a notary is not a witness. What a notary adds is the option to make the will "self-proving." Under § 108, the testator and the two witnesses give a sworn acknowledgment before a notary or other officer authorized to administer oaths, confirming that the testator signed (or directed another to sign) in the presence of two witnesses, that each witness signed at the testator's request in the testator's presence and in the other witness's presence, and that the testator was at least 18 (or emancipated) and of sound mind. A self-proving will can be admitted to probate without bringing the witnesses back to testify.

Handwritten (holographic) wills

Vermont does not recognize holographic wills. Its execution statute (§ 5) requires two or more credible witnesses, and Chapter 1 has no holographic-will provision, so a purely handwritten, unwitnessed will made in Vermont is not valid — no matter that it is entirely in your own hand. (A handwritten will that was valid where and when it was made in a state that allows holographic wills may still be honored in Vermont under ordinary foreign-will principles, but you cannot create one in Vermont itself.)

Electronic & remote wills

Vermont has not adopted electronic wills. It never enacted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act, so a valid will must be a signed paper document witnessed in person under § 5(a). Vermont's only remote-witnessing provision is § 5(b), a measure passed during the COVID-19 pandemic: it treats the witnesses as being "in the presence of" the testator even when not physically present, but only "during the period that the Emergency Administrative Rules for Remote Notarial Acts... are in effect," and only for a will simultaneously made self-proving under § 108. Those emergency notarial rules were replaced by permanent Administrative Rules for Notaries Public effective February 26, 2025, which leaves it unsettled whether § 5(b) still authorizes remote witnessing of wills. Until that is clarified, the safe course is to have the testator and both witnesses sign together in person.

Harmless-error / curative doctrine

Vermont has no harmless-error rule. Unlike Uniform Probate Code states that adopted UPC § 2-503, Vermont's statute contains no provision letting a court treat a defective document as a valid will on clear and convincing evidence of the testator's intent. Vermont is a strict-compliance state: if a formality is missed — a signature not made in the witnesses' presence, only one witness, witnesses who signed separately — the will generally fails, however clear it is that the person meant it as their will. Get the formalities right the first time.

What trips people up

Everyone has to be in the room together. Vermont's § 5 requires the testator to sign in front of the witnesses and the witnesses to sign in the testator's presence and in each other's presence. A will signed privately and circulated to witnesses to sign later can fail. Sign it as a group, in one sitting.

A handwritten will alone is not valid here. Vermont does not accept holographic wills. Even a will entirely in your own handwriting is void without two credible witnesses (§ 5).

There is no harmless-error rescue. Because Vermont never adopted a curative doctrine, a signing mistake generally cannot be excused later. There is no "the intent was clear" fix; the formalities are the rule.

Remote witnessing is not a safe assumption. The pandemic-era remote-witnessing provision (§ 5(b)) was tied to the Secretary of State's emergency notarial rules, which have since been replaced by permanent rules — so whether a will can still be witnessed remotely in Vermont is unsettled. Witness your will in person.

Common questions

Do my witnesses and I all have to sign at the same time? Effectively yes. Vermont requires the testator to sign in front of the witnesses and the witnesses to sign in the presence of the testator and each other (§ 5(a)). The safe practice is for all three of you to sign together in one sitting.

Can I make a valid handwritten will in Vermont? No. Vermont does not recognize holographic (unwitnessed handwritten) wills. Your will must be signed by two or more credible witnesses (§ 5), unless it was validly made in another state that allows handwritten wills.

Does my Vermont will have to be notarized? No. Notarization is never required for validity. Notarizing a self-proving affidavit under § 108 is optional and only makes probate easier by removing the need for the witnesses to testify.

Can a person who inherits under my will also witness it? They can, but it risks the gift. Under § 10, a gift to a subscribing witness (or the witness's spouse) is voidable unless two other competent witnesses also signed. Use two disinterested witnesses so no one's inheritance is in doubt.

Statutes and sources

• 14 V.S.A. § 1 — who may make a will: any individual 18 or older, or emancipated by court order, of sound mind. https://law.justia.com/codes/vermont/title-14/chapter-1/section-1/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• 14 V.S.A. § 5 — execution: in writing, signed in the presence of two or more credible witnesses, and attested and subscribed by the witnesses in the presence of the testator and each other; § 5(b) is the conditional pandemic-era remote-witnessing provision. https://law.justia.com/codes/vermont/title-14/chapter-1/section-5/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• 14 V.S.A. § 10 — a beneficial devise to a subscribing witness (or the witness's spouse) is voidable unless two other competent witnesses also signed; a debt-payment provision does not disqualify the creditor. https://law.justia.com/codes/vermont/title-14/chapter-1/section-10/ (accessed 2026-07-11)
• 14 V.S.A. § 108 — self-proving affidavit: sworn acknowledgment of the testator and witnesses before a notary or other authorized officer. https://law.justia.com/codes/vermont/title-14/chapter-3/section-108/ (accessed 2026-07-11)