Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements in Connecticut

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

Connecticut's mechanism is proof of the will outside court. Section 45a-285 says the qualifying sworn statement “shall be accepted by the Court of Probate as if it had been taken before such court.” It substitutes the witness's written sworn evidence for the same witness's in-court statement.

Who signs or swears

Any or all of the attesting witnesses may make and sign the affidavit. One is therefore enough under the statutory text. The testator, executor, or interested person is the requester in the circumstances the section names, not a substitute affiant.

When it may be made

During the testator's life, the testator may request the affidavit. After the testator's death, the executor or any person interested under the will may request it. Section 45a-285 states no execution-time-only rule and no post-death deadline.

Officer, oath and seal

The witness appears before any officer authorized to administer oaths, whether the officer is in Connecticut or elsewhere. The section does not prescribe a particular officer title, certificate, or official seal.

Required recitals and form

Connecticut supplies a functional standard instead of a statutory form. The affidavit must state the facts that the attesting witness would be required to give in court to prove the will. Its evidentiary reach therefore depends on what the witness actually states.

Attachment to the will

The first choice is to write the affidavit on the will itself. A separate sheet is permitted only “if that is impracticable,” and that paper must be attached to the will.

Electronic, remote and out-of-state rules

Section 45a-285 expressly allows the oath officer to act in or out of Connecticut but creates no special electronic or remote-affidavit procedure. Separately, § 45a-251 permits a will executed according to the law of the state or country where it was executed to be admitted in Connecticut; that is an execution- validity rule, not an automatic foreign-self-proof rule.

Probate effect and exceptions

The Probate Court accepts the witness's sworn statement as if it had been taken before that court. Section 45a-285 does not call the affidavit conclusive, excuse an invalid execution, or state that the will cannot be contested.

If there is no affidavit

The witness gives the required proof in court instead. Section 45a-285 defines the affidavit by reference to those same facts: it must state what the witness would have been required to testify to in court to prove the will.

What trips people up

The requester and the affiant are different roles

After death, an executor or interested person may ask for the affidavit, but only an attesting witness may make and sign it. The statute does not authorize the requester to replace a missing witness with the requester's own affidavit.

A separate affidavit page is the fallback

Section 45a-285 first directs that the affidavit be written on the will. A paper attached to the will is the alternative when writing on the will is impracticable, not an unattached proof document.

Common questions

May the executor sign the affidavit after the testator dies?

Not unless the executor was also an attesting witness. The executor may request the post-death affidavit, but § 45a-285 reserves the making and signing role to “any or all of the attesting witnesses.”

Does a will validly signed in another country arrive already self-proved?

Section 45a-251 may recognize the will's execution under the law of the place where it was signed. It does not say that foreign execution automatically satisfies § 45a-285's separate Connecticut witness-affidavit procedure.

Statutes and sources

• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-285 — eligible witnesses and requesters, in-state or out-of-state oath officer, functional recital standard, attachment, and Probate Court effect: official Connecticut General Assembly text (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-251 — Connecticut execution formalities and the valid-where-executed rule: official Connecticut General Assembly text (accessed 2026-08-01)