Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements in Colorado

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

Section 15-11-504 applies only to a will "executed with attesting witnesses." It offers a one-step signing ceremony and a later two-step affidavit. Colorado's electronic-wills act adds a separate execution-time procedure in § 15-11-1308.

A paper will executed solely through the notary alternative may be valid, but it is not self-proved under § 15-11-504. Section 15-12-406(1)(b) gives that will a rebuttable execution presumption instead.

Who signs or swears

The testator and both attesting witnesses participate in every statutory self-proof form. The testator acknowledges the will and signs; both witnesses sign sworn affidavits. Colorado supplies no attorney-certification substitute and no post-death requester who can replace one of those three people.

The electronic form uses the same signer set, with physical or electronic signatures permitted under the electronic-wills act.

When it may be made

A witnessed paper will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved. If it was already executed, § 15-11-504(2) allows self-proof "at any time after" execution. The section states no elapsed-time deadline, but still requires the testator's acknowledgment and both witnesses' affidavits.

An electronic will is different. Section 15-11-1308 authorizes only simultaneous execution, attestation, and self-proof. It provides no later electronic affidavit route.

Officer, oath and seal

For the paper one-step route, the officer must be authorized to administer oaths under the law of the state where execution occurs. For the later route, officer authority comes from the state where the acknowledgment occurs. Both certificates must be under official seal.

Electronic self-proof ordinarily occurs in the physical presence of an oath-authorized officer under the signing state's law. If fewer than two witnesses are physically with the testator, the officer may instead be a Colorado-authorized notary in physical or electronic presence, but that notary must be located in Colorado when performing the act. The certificate still requires an official seal.

Required recitals and form

The paper forms require substantial compliance. The testator states that the instrument is the will, that signing or direction of another signer was willing, that execution was free and voluntary, and that the testator was at least 18, of sound mind, and free of constraint or undue influence. The witnesses state the corresponding facts and that each signed in the testator's conscious presence.

The electronic form tracks those facts but uses "physical or electronic presence" for each witness and identifies the instrument as the electronic will.

Attachment to the will

The later paper certificate must be attached or annexed to the will. Section 15-11-504(3) adds that a signature on the attached affidavit counts as a signature on the will when necessary to prove due execution.

For an electronic will, the officer's sealed certificate is affixed to or logically associated with the electronic record. An affidavit signature similarly counts as an electronic-will signature. If someone creates a certified paper copy of a self-proved electronic will, § 15-11-1309 requires the copy to include the self-proving affidavits.

Electronic, remote and out-of-state rules

Colorado treats an electronic will as a will for all state-law purposes unless the electronic-wills act modifies the general rule. Section 15-11-1308 expressly permits physical or electronic appearance before the Colorado notary in a remote ceremony when fewer than two witnesses share the testator's location.

For paper self-proof, the officer may derive authority from the state where the execution or later acknowledgment occurs. The cited self-proof sections do not state a blanket rule recognizing self-proved status merely because another state would recognize the certificate.

Probate effect and exceptions

Section 15-12-406 governs even a contested case when proper execution is disputed. Filing a § 15-11-504 self-proved will and its annexed or attached acknowledgment and affidavits satisfies the execution requirements without testimony from an attesting witness. Evidence of fraud or forgery affecting the acknowledgment or affidavit defeats that shortcut.

Because § 15-11-1303 makes an electronic will a will for all Colorado-law purposes except where the electronic act changes the rule, the general probate framework applies to the separately self-proved electronic form.

If there is no affidavit

A notary-only will receives a rebuttable presumption of execution compliance on filing even though it is not self-proved. For a witnessed will that is neither notarized nor self-proved, at least one attesting witness must testify when that witness is in Colorado, competent, and able to testify.

Other evidence may establish execution, including a witness affidavit. A signed attestation clause also raises a rebuttable presumption that the events it recites occurred.

What trips people up

A valid notary-only will is not a self-proved will

Colorado lets a testator execute a will by acknowledgment before a notary without attesting witnesses. But § 15-11-504 expressly begins with a will executed with attesting witnesses. The notary-only will gets the rebuttable presumption in § 15-12-406(1)(b), not the no-witness-testimony effect in paragraph (a).

Paper and electronic self-proof have different timing

Paper self-proof may be added at any later time while the testator and witnesses can complete the form. Electronic self-proof is execution-time only. Treating the paper two-step rule as an electronic repair route has no support in § 15-11-1308.

Common questions

Can a Colorado witnessed will be made self-proving years later?

Yes. Section 15-11-504(2) says "at any time after" execution, provided the testator and witnesses complete the statutory acknowledgment and affidavits before the proper officer under official seal.

Does a notary-only will need witness testimony in a contest?

It starts with a rebuttable presumption that execution requirements were met. That is different from the self-proved-will rule, which satisfies execution without witness testimony unless affidavit fraud or forgery is shown.

Can a remote electronic-will affidavit be notarized from outside Colorado?

The notary may appear physically or electronically, but § 15-11-1308(2)(a) requires that Colorado-authorized notary to be located in Colorado when the notarial act occurs.

Can an affidavit signature count as a will signature?

Yes. Colorado has signature-spillover rules for both paper and electronic wills, so an affidavit signature counts as a will signature when needed to prove due execution.

Statutes and sources

• Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-504 — witnessed paper one-step and later self-proof, forms, officer and seal, attachment, and signature spillover: official 2025 Title 15 PDF (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 15-11-1303, 15-11-1308, 15-11-1309 — electronic-will status, execution-time self-proof, remote officer and logical association, signature spillover, and certified paper copy: official 2025 Title 15 PDF (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-12-406 — contested probate effect, fraud/forgery exception, notary-only presumption, witness testimony, other evidence, and attestation clause: official 2025 Title 15 PDF (accessed 2026-08-01)