Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements in Delaware

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

Delaware's own form is in 12 Del. C. § 1305. Section 1306(b) recognizes additional self-proof created under another jurisdiction's law, and § 1310 separates what is conclusively established from what remains rebuttable in probate.

Who signs or swears

The testator and both witnesses participate. The officer first swears all three. The testator declares the instrument to be the last will, confirms willing personal signing or direction of another signer, and signs the testator line. Each witness states that the witness signed the will and makes the age, mind, constraint, and influence recital before signing a witness line. The officer then signs the certificate.

When it may be made

Section 1305 permits self-proof “at the time of its execution or at any subsequent date.” The text sets no numerical deadline. The later route is not a post-death substitute-signer procedure because the form still requires the testator and both witnesses.

Officer, oath, and seal

The officer must be authorized to administer oaths “under the laws of this State.” The certificate must carry the officer's signature, official capacity, and official seal. The seal is in both the operative sentence and the printed “(SEAL)” line.

Required recitals and form

The certificate must be substantially compliant in both form and content. It covers the testator's declaration of the instrument as the will, willing personal or directed signing, free and voluntary execution, and the witnesses' statements that they signed as witnesses. To the witnesses' best knowledge, the testator must have been at least eighteen, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.

The directed-signature alternative is part of the statutory form. A form limited to a personal testator signature omits a route Delaware expressly includes.

Attachment to the will

Section 1305 requires the sealed officer certificate to be “attached or annexed to the will.” The form identifies the “attached or foregoing instrument,” so either a separate annexed page or a following integrated certificate fits the statutory language.

Electronic, remote, and out-of-state rules

Sections 1305 and 1306 create no separate electronic-will or remote-affidavit procedure. They do provide broad cross-jurisdiction recognition. An otherwise-valid attested will is self-proved if it satisfies Delaware's form, the self-proof law of the jurisdiction where it was made self-proved, or the applicable self-proof law of a jurisdiction tied to the testator by domicile, abode, or nationality at death.

Probate effect and exceptions

Section 1310 draws a deliberate two-level presumption. Compliance with signature requirements is conclusively presumed. Other execution requirements are presumed but remain subject to rebuttal, all without witness testimony after filing the will and attached acknowledgment and affidavits.

Proof of fraud or forgery affecting the acknowledgment or affidavit defeats the shortcut. Even without that proof, admission remains “subject to all other provisions” of Title 12, so self-proof is not immunity from every challenge.

If there is no affidavit

The will returns to ordinary proof. Section 1304 supplies a detailed ladder when a witness is dead, away, incapacitated, or otherwise unavailable. Proof of that witness's signature may suffice. If one or more witness signatures cannot be proved, proof of the testator's signature may suffice—by one credible disinterested person when one witness signature is proved, or two such persons when none are.

The Register of Wills may still require witness testimony, a deposition, or other pertinent proof. The fallback is evidence-sensitive; it is not an automatic handwriting affidavit.

What trips people up

• The seal is not optional. Section 1305 requires an official seal as part of the certificate.
• Only signatures are conclusively presumed. Other execution requirements can still be rebutted under § 1310.
• Later self-proof still requires all three people. The “subsequent date” route does not create replacement affiants.
• Foreign self-proof has its own recognition rule. Section 1306(b) is broader than Delaware's domestic officer rule and should be checked before redoing an affidavit made elsewhere.

Common questions

Can I add the affidavit after the will was signed?

Yes. Section 1305 allows any subsequent date, provided the testator, both witnesses, and a qualifying oath officer complete the certificate under official seal.

Does self-proof conclusively establish the whole execution ceremony?

No. Section 1310 makes signature compliance conclusive but leaves other execution requirements rebuttably presumed.

What if an attesting witness cannot be found?

Section 1304 permits proof of the witness's signature and, if necessary, proof of the testator's signature under its specified one-person or two-person routes. The Register may demand additional evidence.

Statutes and sources

• 12 Del. C. § 1304 — proof when attesting witnesses or signatures are unavailable. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title12/c013/index.html (accessed 2026-08-01)
• 12 Del. C. § 1305 — Delaware self-proof form, timing, signer set, attachment, officer, and seal. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title12/c013/index.html (accessed 2026-08-01)
• 12 Del. C. § 1306(b) — cross-jurisdiction recognition of self-proof. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title12/c013/index.html (accessed 2026-08-01)
• 12 Del. C. § 1310 — conclusive signature presumption, rebuttable other execution facts, fraud/forgery exception, and admission effect. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title12/c013/index.html (accessed 2026-08-01)