Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements in Illinois

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

Illinois makes a will self-proving through the attesting witnesses' proof statements. Under 755 ILCS 5/6-4, each of two witnesses may supply those statements through live testimony, a signed attestation clause, or a signed affidavit. The electronic/remote Act carries the same architecture into electronic wills and audio-video ceremonies. This is not a testator-plus-witness notarized-affidavit system.

Who signs or swears

The two attesting witnesses sign the proof clause or affidavit. The testator does not join the § 6-4 witness statement. For a remote will assembled from separate signature pages, clauses, or affidavits, a person appointed by the testator to attach those pages may also have to make the § 20-20(d) attachment statements; the testator is exempt from that extra statement when doing the attachment personally.

When it may be made

For an ordinary in-person will, an affidavit may be signed "at or after" attestation, with no statutory lifetime cutoff. Remote timing is more specific. A clause or affidavit signed at the ceremony must be attached within 10 business days, while an affidavit signed after attestation may be attached to an accurate copy of the will.

Officer, oath and seal

No officer is needed for the signed-attestation-clause route. Section 6-4(b) and the remote § 20-20(c) list a signed affidavit as another option but do not prescribe a particular oath officer, notarial certificate, or official seal as an element of the will-proof statute. Adding a notary does not add the testator to the statutory witness statement.

Required recitals and form

Each witness states three facts: the witness saw the testator or directed signer sign, or heard the testator acknowledge the signature; the witness attested in the testator's presence; and the witness believed the testator was of sound mind and memory. A remote witness adds the method used to determine the testator's identity. Illinois supplies elements rather than a mandatory word-for-word form.

Attachment to the will

For an in-person paper will, the attestation clause must form part of or be attached to the will. A witness affidavit may form part of or be attached to the will or an accurate facsimile. A remote electronic will is a single document containing its signature pages, clauses, and affidavits. For a remote paper document or paper copy, same-time proof pages attach within 10 business days; a later affidavit attaches to an accurate copy.

Electronic, remote and out-of-state rules

An in-person electronic will is sufficiently proved through § 6-4 under § 20-15. A remote ceremony may use an electronic will, paper copy of one, or paper document, but the will must designate Illinois as its place of execution and use two credible witnesses located in the United States. Illinois also has a separate foreign-will proof system: an authenticated copy of an out-of-state probate may suffice, while an unprobated foreign will can be proved under Illinois law, the execution-place law, or the testator's domicile law as Article VII directs.

Probate effect and exceptions

The two witness statements sufficiently prove execution for admission, but not conclusively. Fraud, forgery, compulsion, or other improper conduct may defeat the will, and both sides may introduce other competent evidence. A separate 42-day formal-proof override is explained below.

If there is no affidavit

An affidavit is only one option. A compliant signed attestation clause supplies the same witness statements, and the witnesses can instead testify in court. Section 6-4 also lets the proponent use other competent evidence; if that evidence sufficiently establishes the will and no invalidating conduct is proved, the will is admitted.

What trips people up

Written proof can be displaced after admission

Admission based on a clause or affidavit is not necessarily the last word. If the will was admitted before notice, a person entitled to notice may petition within 42 days after the admission order for formal proof. At that hearing, the written clause or affidavit route no longer suffices: the proponent must use testimony, deposition, or other permitted evidence. Section 6-21 supplies the ordinary-will rule, and § 20-35 applies the parallel rule to a remote-witness will.

Common questions

Does a formal-proof petition extend the deadline to contest the will?

Not if the admission order is confirmed. Sections 6-21 and 20-35 say the contest deadline is not extended in that event. If the admission order is vacated, the statutory period identified in § 8-2 instead runs from the date of vacation.

If the will survives formal proof, do the probate orders start over?

No. When the proponent establishes the will by sufficient competent evidence, the original admission and representative-appointment orders are confirmed and remain effective as of their original entry dates, including against creditors.

Statutes and sources

• 755 ILCS 5/6-4 — the two witness statements, testimony/attestation-clause/ affidavit routes, timing, association, effect, and other-evidence fallback. https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/075500050K6-4.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)
• 755 ILCS 6/15-10 — remote will attestation, eligible document formats, single- document rule, and 10-business-day attachment. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ILCS/details?ActID=4176&Print=True (accessed 2026-08-01)
• 755 ILCS 6/20-15, 20-20, 20-30, and 20-35 — in-person electronic proof, remote witness statements/timing, attachment-person proof, invalidating-conduct evidence, and the formal-proof override. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ILCS/details?ActID=4176&Print=True (accessed 2026-08-01)
• 755 ILCS 5/6-21 — the 42-day petition and formal-proof procedure for a will admitted under § 6-4 before notice. https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/075500050K6-21.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)
• 755 ILCS 5/7-3 and 7-4 — authenticated-copy and original-proof routes for foreign wills. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ILCS/details?MajorTopic=&Chapter=&ActName=Probate%20Act%20of%201975.&ActID=2104&ChapterID=60&ChapAct=755+ILCS+5%2F&SeqStart=10400000&SeqEnd=11500000&Print=True (accessed 2026-08-01)