Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements in Arizona

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

Arizona supplies two linked routes. A paper will may be executed, attested, and made self-proved in one ceremony under § 14-2504(A), or an already-attested will may be made self-proved later under subsection (B). An electronic will uses those same basic requirements plus § 14-2519's notary, custodian, and custody rules.

Self-proof is a proof mechanism, not a substitute for execution. Section 14-3406 describes the presumptions it creates in a contested probate case, while § 14-3303 preserves ways to probate a will that has no self-proving affidavit.

Who signs or swears

The testator and both witnesses participate. Section 14-2504 calls the testator's act an acknowledgment and the witnesses' statements affidavits, but its forms are more specific: all three sign after being sworn; the officer's certificate says the testator subscribed, swore, and acknowledged, while the witnesses subscribed and swore.

When it may be made

Subsection (A) covers a single signing ceremony. Subsection (B) says an attested will may be made self-proved "at any time after its execution." It gives no fixed deadline, but the later form still requires the testator and both witnesses to sign and swear. The statute supplies no post-death substitute for the testator's own participation.

Officer, oath and seal

For simultaneous self-proof, the officer must be authorized to administer oaths under the law of the state where execution occurs. For later self-proof, authority comes from the state where the acknowledgment occurs. In either case, the officer's certificate must be under official seal.

Required recitals and form

Both paper forms need only be followed "substantially," but their substance is detailed. The testator declares willing signature or direction of another signer, execution as a free and voluntary act for the document's stated purposes, age 18 or older, sound mind, and freedom from constraint or undue influence. Each witness declares signing in the testator's presence and hearing and states the same age, mind, and influence facts to the best of the witness's knowledge.

Attachment to the will

For later self-proof, § 14-2504(B) requires the officer's sealed certificate to be "attached or annexed to the will." Subsection (C) adds an unusual spillover rule: when due execution needs proving, a signature on an attached self-proving affidavit is treated as a signature on the will itself.

Electronic, remote and out-of-state rules

Section 14-2519 does not merely digitize the paper form. The electronic will must carry the notary public's electronic signature and electronic seal, designate a qualified custodian, and remain under a qualified custodian's exclusive control at all times before probate or conversion to a certified paper original.

Its statutory form expressly allows each witness to sign in the testator's "physical or electronic presence and hearing." The section requires the notary's electronic signature and seal in accordance with applicable law; it does not itself create a separate remote-notarization procedure. For a paper affidavit, § 14-2504 allows an oath officer authorized by the state where execution or the later acknowledgment occurs, so the officer need not be commissioned in Arizona.

Probate effect and exceptions

Section 14-3406(B) creates two different evidentiary effects in a contested case. Compliance with the signature requirements is conclusively presumed. The other execution requirements are only rebuttably presumed, although the proponent does not need witness testimony after filing the will and its attached or annexed acknowledgment and affidavits. Proof of fraud or forgery affecting the acknowledgment or an affidavit defeats that treatment.

If there is no affidavit

An uncontested informal probate may not need witness testimony anyway. Under § 14-3303(C), a will that appears to have the required signatures and contains an attestation clause showing compliance with the execution article is probated "without further proof." Otherwise, the registrar may assume execution from the document's appearance or accept a sworn statement or affidavit from anyone who knows the execution circumstances, whether or not that person was a witness.

If execution evidence becomes necessary in a contested case, § 14-3406(A) requires at least one attesting witness who is in Arizona, competent, and able to testify. The same subsection also permits due execution of an attested or unattested will to be proved by other evidence.

What trips people up

Self-proof can determine whether an interested person was allowed to witness

For a will executed on or after October 1, 2019, § 14-2505(B) bars a devisee — or anyone related by blood, marriage, or adoption to a devisee — from acting as a witness unless the will is made self-proved under § 14-2504 or § 14-2519. In Arizona, then, omitting self-proof can affect more than later courthouse convenience when an interested witness was used.

An electronic affidavit is not enough without the custody chain

The § 14-2519 form is only part of electronic self-proof. A correct affidavit and notarial seal do not satisfy the section if the will failed to designate a qualified custodian or ever left qualified-custodian exclusive control before probate or conversion to a certified paper original.

Common questions

Does self-proof make every execution issue conclusive?

No. Section 14-3406(B) makes signature compliance conclusive, but the other execution requirements remain rebuttably presumed. Fraud or forgery affecting the acknowledgment or affidavit also prevents the ordinary self-proof treatment.

Can an Arizona affidavit be taken by an officer outside Arizona?

Yes. Section 14-2504 looks to the law of the state where the execution or later acknowledgment occurs. The officer must be authorized to administer oaths there, and the certificate must carry the officer's official seal.

Can an apparently proper will be admitted informally without self-proof?

Yes. Section 14-3303(C) permits probate without further proof when the will appears to have the required signatures and contains a sufficient attestation clause. It also allows the registrar to rely on apparent proper execution or a knowledgeable person's sworn statement in other cases.

Statutes and sources

• A.R.S. § 14-2504 — simultaneous and later paper-will self-proof, statutory forms, officer authority and seal, attachment, and affidavit-signature spillover: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/14/02504.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)
• A.R.S. § 14-2519 — electronic-will self-proof, notary electronic signature and seal, qualified-custodian designation and custody, and electronic-presence form: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/14/02519.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)
• A.R.S. § 14-2505 — devisee and devisee-relative witness disqualification unless the will is self-proved: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/14/02505.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)
• A.R.S. § 14-3303 — informal probate proof without a self-proving affidavit: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/14/03303.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)
• A.R.S. § 14-3406 — contested-case proof, self-proof presumptions, and the fraud-or-forgery exception: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/14/03406.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)