Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements in Maryland

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

Maryland does not use a classic testator-and-witnesses paper affidavit for an ordinary will. Its functional shortcut is Estates and Trusts § 5-303. In administrative probate, the register must assume due execution when the will appears duly executed and contains the attesting witnesses' recital of the facts that constitute due execution.

The statutory definition of will includes a record intended as a codicil, so the same probate-proof rule applies to a codicil. Electronic and remotely witnessed wills add the certified-will procedures in § 4-102(c) through (e).

Who signs or swears

For an ordinary paper will, the attesting witnesses sign the will and its execution recital. The testator signs the will but does not sign a separate self-proof affidavit. If the will lacks the recital, § 5-303(2) accepts the verified statement of any person with personal knowledge of the execution circumstances, whether or not that person was an attesting witness.

The supervised electronic/remote route is different. Under § 4-102(c)(5)(iii), the testator signs the acknowledgment and the witnesses sign their affidavits before either a notary public or the supervising attorney.

When it may be made

The face-of-will recital is part of the executed will. The alternate verified statement is a probate-stage route and can be supplied after the testator's death when the register is deciding whether to assume due execution.

For electronic or remotely witnessed wills, the affidavit or certification is part of creating the certified will required by § 4-102(c) or (d). Once created, the statute treats that certified will as the original and assigns it the execution date stated in the certification.

Officer, oath and seal

No officer or seal is required for the ordinary witness recital. Section 5-303 calls the alternate evidence a "verified statement" but does not name a particular officer or certificate form in that section.

For the supervised electronic/remote form, the parties may appear before a notary public under seal or before the supervising attorney. The alternate § 4-102(d) route uses a paper certification signed and acknowledged by the testator before a notary who may not be one of the witnesses.

Required recitals and form

Section 5-303 supplies no words for an ordinary paper will. The witness recital must state "facts constituting due execution"—enough to show that the will was signed and witnessed in the manner Maryland requires.

The supervised electronic/remote form need only be substantially followed. It recites that the instrument is the will; the testator was of sound mind, signed or directed signing willingly, under no constraint or undue influence, and acted freely; the witnesses signed in the testator's physical or electronic presence and at the testator's request; and, to their best knowledge, the testator was at least 18, of sound mind, and free of constraint or undue influence.

Attachment to the will

The ordinary recital is contained in the will itself. Section 5-303 does not say that the later verified statement must be attached or annexed to the original instrument.

For the supervised electronic/remote route, the testator acknowledgment and witness affidavits are attached or annexed to the will. The certified will also includes a true, complete, and accurate paper version of every page and the required original paper certification.

Electronic, remote and out-of-state rules

Section 4-102(c) requires the testator, witnesses, and supervising attorney to be in one another's physical or real-time audio-video presence. The testator must be a Maryland resident or physically in Maryland, remote witnesses must be U.S. residents physically in the United States, and everyone signs the same will or counterparts. The supervising attorney creates the certified paper original and the notary-or-attorney affidavit package.

Section 4-102(d) permits a route without a supervising attorney. The testator and witnesses still must be in one another's physical or electronic presence and meet the same location and counterpart rules, but the testator creates the certified will and signs the paper certification before a nonwitness notary.

For a testator physically outside Maryland, § 4-104 recognizes execution under Maryland law, the law of the testator's domicile, or the law of the place of signing. That section addresses valid execution; it does not separately say that a foreign self-proof certificate receives Maryland's § 5-303 effect.

Probate effect and exceptions

The administrative effect is exact and limited: the register "shall assume due execution of the will" from either a qualifying face recital or the verified statement of a person with personal knowledge. That is an administrative probate assumption, not a declaration that the execution facts are conclusively proved for every later proceeding.

Judicial probate is the express exception. Section 5-404 describes it as a plenary hearing and says that, unless the court orders otherwise, the court conducts the examination of the witnesses to the will. The hearing can revoke, modify, or confirm prior administrative action.

If there is no affidavit

An ordinary paper will needs no notarized affidavit. If its witness recital is missing or the will does not appear duly executed, § 5-303(2) lets a person with personal knowledge of the execution circumstances provide a verified statement; the person need not have been an attesting witness.

If the matter proceeds to judicial probate, the default is court examination of the will's witnesses under § 5-404(b), subject to the court's power to order otherwise.

What trips people up

Notarization is not what creates the paper shortcut

For an ordinary Maryland paper will, § 5-303 turns on a witness recital of the due-execution facts, not on a notary stamp. A notarized affidavit may preserve verified evidence, but it should not replace a complete attestation recital in the will.

Electronic certification and paper self-proof are different systems

The notary-or-supervising-attorney affidavit form in § 4-102(c) belongs to the supervised electronic/remotely witnessed certified-will procedure. Copying that form onto an ordinary paper will is not the source of the ordinary § 5-303 assumption. Conversely, the alternate § 4-102(d) electronic route uses the testator's notarized certification rather than the three-party affidavit form.

Common questions

Does Maryland require a self-proving affidavit on a paper will?

No. A complete recital by the attesting witnesses inside the will is the statutory route that makes the register assume due execution in administrative probate.

What if the will has no attestation recital?

The register may rely on a verified statement from any person with personal knowledge of the execution circumstances. That person does not have to be one of the attesting witnesses.

Does the recital eliminate witnesses in a judicial probate case?

Not automatically. Section 5-404(b) says the court conducts the examination of the witnesses to the will unless the court orders otherwise.

Are all Maryland electronic wills supported by witness affidavits?

No. The supervised § 4-102(c) route includes testator and witness affidavits. The alternate § 4-102(d) route instead requires the testator's paper certification acknowledged before a notary who is not a witness.

Statutes and sources

• Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 4-101(c), (e), (h), (k) — electronic presence, electronic and remotely witnessed wills, and codicils: official current text (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 5-303 — administrative due-execution assumption, witness recital, and personal-knowledge verified statement: official current text (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 4-102(c)–(e) — electronic and remotely witnessed certified wills, supervised affidavits, alternate testator certification, and original-will effect: official current text (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 4-104 — execution outside Maryland: official current text (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 5-404 — judicial probate and court examination of will witnesses: official current text (accessed 2026-08-01)