Florida: Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements
The short answer
Yes. A Florida will or codicil is made self-proved by the testator's acknowledgment plus sworn affidavits from both attesting witnesses, taken before an officer authorized to administer oaths, in substantially the form set out in Fla. Stat. § 732.503. It may be done at the signing or at any later date, and a self-proved will is admitted to probate without further proof. A will without one is still valid; it just has to be proved by a witness's oath instead.
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This is the general rule in Florida. Ask about your specific facts and see which parts of current Florida law apply, with citations to the statutes.
| Availability & governing law | Available for a will or codicil executed under § 732.502; Fla. Stat. § 732.503, with a separate electronic-will version at § 732.523 |
|---|---|
| Who signs or swears | Testator acknowledges the will; both attesting witnesses swear affidavits. No attorney route, no post-death requester (§ 732.503(1)) |
| When it may be made | At execution or 'at any subsequent date'; the statute sets no cutoff but supplies no after-death route (§ 732.503(1)) |
| Officer, oath & seal | Any officer authorized to administer oaths; officer signs a certificate and affixes the official seal with commissioned name (§ 732.503(1)) |
| Required recitals & form | Statutory form followed 'substantially': testator declares the instrument is the will; witnesses swear the testator declared and signed it in their presence and that each signed as witness in the testator's and each other's presence (§ 732.503(1)) |
| Attachment to the will | Officer's certificate attached to or following the will; for an electronic will, part of, attached to, or logically associated with the electronic record (§§ 732.503(1), 732.523(1)) |
| Electronic, remote & out-of-state | Online notarization is an express election on the form; e-will self-proof also needs a designated qualified custodian and a custodian's sworn certification (§§ 732.522(2), 732.523, 732.524). Self-proof under former Florida law or another state's law counts (§ 732.503(2)) |
| Probate effect & exceptions | Admitted to probate 'without further proof'; a purportedly self-proved electronic will loses that where its online notarization substantially failed to comply with § 117.265 (§ 733.201(1)) |
| If there is no affidavit | Will remains valid; proved on the oath of any attesting witness, or on the oath of the nominated personal representative or a disinterested person if the witnesses cannot be found, are incapacitated, or cannot be reached in a reasonable time (§ 733.201(2)–(3)) |
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Requirements one by one
Availability and governing law
Florida's self-proof mechanism sits in Probate Code § 732.503 and applies to any
"will or codicil executed in conformity with s. 732.502" — that is, to an
already-valid will. The affidavit adds nothing to validity and takes nothing away
from it; a codicil qualifies on the same terms because § 732.502(5) requires a
codicil to be executed with the same formalities as a will. Electronic wills get
their own, stricter self-proof section at § 732.523.
Who signs or swears
Three people, doing two different things. The testator acknowledges the
instrument — declaring to the officer and to the subscribing witnesses "that I
signed this instrument as my will." The two attesting witnesses swear, on oath,
that the testator declared the instrument to be the testator's will, signed it in
their presence, and that each of them signed as a witness in the presence of the
testator and of each other.
Florida offers no variations on that set. There is no attorney-certification route,
and no one other than the testator and the witnesses can supply the affidavit — a
point that matters most after a death, as the timing section explains.
When it may be made
Section 732.503(1) is generous: the will "may be made self-proved at the time of its
execution or at any subsequent date." A will signed twenty years ago can be made
self-proved next week, provided the testator and both witnesses are available to
appear before the officer together.
The statute sets no expiration and no waiting period. What it does not supply is any
route after the testator's death — the affidavit requires the testator's own
acknowledgment, so death closes the door permanently.
Officer, oath and seal
Any "officer authorized to administer oaths" may take the acknowledgment and the
affidavits; a Florida notary public is the usual choice, but the statute is written
to the function, not the title. The officer's role is not passive. Section 732.503(1)
requires the self-proof to be "evidenced by the officer's certificate attached to or
following the will," and the statutory form closes with a signature line plus the
instruction to "(Print, type, or stamp commissioned name and affix official seal)."
The certificate also records how each person appeared and how each was identified.
Required recitals and form
The form is set out in the statute, and compliance is measured by whether the
affidavit is "in substantially the following form" — so wording may vary, but the
substance may not. The recitals that carry the weight are the witnesses': that the
testator declared the instrument to be the testator's will, that the testator
signed it in their presence, and that they each signed as a witness in the
presence of the testator and of each other. Those three facts track § 732.502's
execution requirements one for one, which is exactly why the affidavit substitutes
for the witnesses' live testimony.
Notice what the Florida form does not ask anyone to swear to: the testator's age,
soundness of mind, or freedom from constraint. Several states put those recitals in
their form. Florida does not, and an affidavit that recites them is not thereby
better — it is simply reciting facts the affidavit was never designed to prove.
Attachment to the will
The officer's certificate must be "attached to or following the will." Either
placement satisfies the statute — the affidavit may be the last page of the
instrument itself or a separate sheet attached to it. For an electronic will,
§ 732.523(1) restates the same idea in electronic-records language: the
acknowledgment and affidavits must be "part of the electronic record containing the
electronic will, or ... attached to, or ... logically associated with" it.
Electronic, remote and out-of-state
Florida is unusually built-out here, and the three questions have three different
answers.
Remote notarization is expressly permitted. The § 732.503 form itself contains
the election "☐ physical presence or ☐ online notarization," so this is not an
inference from general notary law — it is on the face of the will statute. Section
732.522(2) supplies the machinery: witnesses may be present and sign electronically
by audio-video communication technology if they are supervised by a notary under
§ 117.285, are authenticated as part of an online notarization session under
§ 117.265, and each witness hears the signer acknowledge having signed the record.
An electronic will needs more than the affidavit. Under § 732.523, the
acknowledgment and affidavits must be made in accordance with § 732.503 and the
will must designate a qualified custodian, the electronic record must stay in a
qualified custodian's custody at all times before it is offered for probate, and the
custodian holding it at the testator's death must certify under oath that the chain
held and "that the electronic will has not been altered in any way since the date of
its execution." A qualified custodian must be a Florida resident or a Florida-based
entity and must keep the will, the associated records, and the online-notarization
records in a secure system (§ 732.524(1)–(2)(a)).
Self-proof from elsewhere carries over. Section 732.503(2) recognizes a will or
codicil "made self-proved under former law, or executed in another state and made
self-proved under the laws of that state." A will properly self-proved in Georgia or
New York does not have to be redone after a move to Florida.
Probate effect and exceptions
The payoff is stated in one line of § 733.201(1): "Self-proved wills executed in
accordance with this code may be admitted to probate without further proof." The
witnesses are not summoned, no oath is taken at the courthouse, and the will goes in.
The same subsection carries the one express exception, and it applies only to
electronic wills: a purportedly self-proved electronic will may be admitted only
through the ordinary § 733.201(2)–(3) routes "if the execution of such electronic
will, or the acknowledgment by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses,
involves an online notarization in which there was a substantial failure to comply
with the procedures set forth in s. 117.265." The will is not void; it simply loses
the shortcut and must be proved the ordinary way.
If there is no affidavit
Nothing is lost but convenience. A validly executed Florida will with no
self-proving affidavit is still a valid will, and § 733.201 supplies two fallbacks.
Subsection (2) lets the will in "upon the oath of any attesting witness taken before
any circuit judge, commissioner appointed by the court, or clerk" — one witness, not
both. Subsection (3) covers the harder case: if the attesting witnesses cannot be
found, have become incapacitated since execution, or their testimony cannot be
obtained within a reasonable time, the will may be admitted on the oath of the
personal representative nominated by the will (interested or not), or on the oath of
"any person having no interest in the estate under the will" who states a belief that
the document is the decedent's true last will.
What trips people up
"Notarized" and "self-proved" are not the same thing, and neither one makes a will
valid. A Florida will is valid when it satisfies § 732.502 — signed at the end by
the testator, in the presence of two attesting witnesses, who then sign in the
presence of the testator and of each other. A notary is not a witness and cannot
substitute for one. Notarizing a will without the § 732.503 recitals produces a
notarized will that is not self-proved; conversely, a will with a perfect affidavit
that was never properly witnessed is still invalid, because the affidavit proves
execution and cannot manufacture it.
Waiting is the expensive mistake. Because § 732.503 requires the testator's own
acknowledgment, the affidavit becomes impossible the moment the testator dies. The
estate then falls back on § 733.201(2)–(3), which means locating a witness who signed
years ago, or — if the witnesses are gone — proving the will through the nominated
personal representative or a disinterested person. Everything about that is slower
and more expensive than five minutes at the signing.
The affidavit does not prove capacity, and it is not contest-proof. The recitals
in the Florida form are about execution. Nothing in § 732.503 speaks to the testator's
soundness of mind or to undue influence, and § 733.201(1) removes only the burden of
proving execution. An interested party can still challenge the will on any substantive
ground.
Electronic wills fail on custody more often than on notarization. The
acknowledgment and affidavits are only condition one of four in § 732.523. If the
electronic will names no qualified custodian, or the record left qualified custody at
any point before probate, the will is not self-proved no matter how correct the
affidavit is — and § 732.524's residency and secure-system requirements narrow who
can serve.
Common questions
Do both witnesses have to come back if I want to add the affidavit later?
Yes. Section 732.503(1) requires the affidavits of the witnesses — plural, and the
same people who attested the will. All three of you must appear before the officer.
That is a practical argument for doing it at the signing, while everyone is already in
the room.
My will was self-proved in another state and I have moved to Florida. Do I need to
redo it? No. Section 732.503(2) treats a will "executed in another state and made
self-proved under the laws of that state" as self-proved in Florida.
Can I use an online notary for this? Yes — the statutory form contains an express
"online notarization" election, and § 732.522(2) sets out how witnesses may appear and
sign by audio-video technology under a supervising notary. Be aware that for an
electronic will, a substantial failure to follow the § 117.265 online-notarization
procedures costs the will its self-proved status under § 733.201(1).
Is a self-proved will treated as more valid than an ordinary one? No. The only
difference is at the courthouse door: § 733.201(1) admits it "without further proof."
Its terms, its revocability, and its vulnerability to a contest are unchanged.
Statutes and sources
- Fla. Stat. § 732.503 (self-proof of will; statutory form, officer's certificate,
timing, recognition of former-law and out-of-state self-proof) —
https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0732/Sections/0732.503.html
(accessed 2026-08-16) - Fla. Stat. § 733.201 (proof of wills; admission without further proof, the
electronic-will online-notarization exception, and the alternate oath routes) —
https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0733/Sections/0733.201.html
(accessed 2026-08-16) - Fla. Stat. § 732.502 (execution of wills; the formalities the affidavit's
recitals track) —
https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0732/Sections/0732.502.html
(accessed 2026-08-16) - Fla. Stat. § 732.523 (self-proof of electronic will; qualified-custodian chain
and custodian certification) —
https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0732/Sections/0732.523.html
(accessed 2026-08-16) - Fla. Stat. § 732.522 (method and place of execution; electronic signature and
audio-video witnessing conditions) —
https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0732/Sections/0732.522.html
(accessed 2026-08-16) - Fla. Stat. §§ 117.265 and 117.285 (online-notarization procedures and
supervision of electronic-record witnessing) —
https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0100-0199/0117/Sections/0117.265.html
and
https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0100-0199/0117/Sections/0117.285.html
(accessed 2026-08-16) - Fla. Stat. § 732.524 (qualified custodians; residency and secure-system duties) —
https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0732/Sections/0732.524.html
(accessed 2026-08-16)
The compiled pages are published as the 2025 Florida Statutes. The 2026 regular
session was checked for amendments to these sections; the enacted estates act of that
session (HB 1337) amends other chapters and sections of the Probate Code and does not
touch any section relied on here.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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