Michigan: Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

MCL 700.2504 supplies four related routes. A will may be executed, attested, and
made self-proved in one ceremony; an already-attested will may be made self-proved
later; a newly executed codicil may make both itself and the original will
self-proved; and subsection (5) permits an unsworn declaration instead of appearing
before an oath officer.

Who signs or swears

The notarized forms use the testator and two witnesses. The testator acknowledges
and signs. Each witness signs and swears to the execution facts. The unsworn route
keeps the same three signers but replaces their oaths with a written declaration
under penalty of perjury under Michigan law.

When it may be made

Subsection (1) covers the execution ceremony. Subsection (2) says an attested will
may be made self-proved "at any time after its execution." The text supplies no
numerical deadline, but the testator and witnesses still must acknowledge, swear,
and sign. Subsection (3) adds a separate signing-day route for a codicil that also
makes the original will self-proved.

Officer, oath and seal

For simultaneous will or codicil self-proof, the officer must be authorized to
administer oaths under the law of the state where execution occurs. For later
self-proof, the relevant state is where the acknowledgment occurs. The officer's
certificate and official seal evidence the sworn route.

Michigan's § 2504(5) alternative removes the officer entirely. A valid unsworn
statement does not need a notarial certificate or seal because it is signed under
penalty of perjury instead.

Required recitals and form

The statutory forms need only be followed "substantially." They cover the
instrument's identity as a will or codicil; willing signature or direction of
another signer; execution as a voluntary act for the stated purposes; age 18 or
older; absence of constraint or undue influence; sufficient mental capacity; and
each witness's signing in the testator's presence.

The unsworn statement must state those facts or incorporate an attestation clause
that states them. It must be signed by the testator and witnesses, include its
execution date, and begin substantially: "I certify (or declare) under penalty for
perjury under the law of the state of Michigan that...".

Attachment to the will

For later self-proof, § 2504(2) requires the officer's sealed certificate to be
"attached or annexed to the will." Subsection (4) supplies a signature-spillover
rule: if due execution needs proving, a signature on an attached self-proving sworn
statement counts as a signature on the will.

Electronic, remote and out-of-state rules

Michigan retains one closed historical window. MCL 700.1202 allowed signing or
witnessing a will through two-way real-time audiovisual technology for documents
executed from April 30, 2020 through June 30, 2021, subject to recording, page-
display, close-up signing, 72-hour transmission and return, location, and other
conditions. It is not an ongoing route for a new will today.

Section 2504 does permit an officer outside Michigan: authority follows the state
where execution or the later acknowledgment occurs. It states no separate rule
automatically carrying over another jurisdiction's self-proof. MCL 700.3303(4)-(5)
instead provides authenticated-copy routes for a will already probated elsewhere or
from a place that does not provide post-death probate.

HB 5701 remains pending. It would authorize an electronic will and electronic-
presence witnessing, then allow a certified paper copy that must include the
self-proving affidavits if the electronic will was self-proved.

Probate effect and exceptions

MCL 700.3406(2) separates signature proof from other execution facts in a contested
case. Signature compliance is conclusively presumed. The other execution
requirements are presumed but remain rebuttable, and no witness testimony is needed
when the will plus the attached or annexed acknowledgment and sworn statements are
filed. Fraud or forgery affecting the acknowledgment or a sworn statement defeats
that statutory treatment.

The text of § 3406(2) still describes filing an acknowledgment and "sworn
statements" even though § 2504(5) separately authorizes unsworn self-proof. The
statute does not separately restate how that filing phrase applies to the unsworn
route.

If there is no affidavit

In informal probate, MCL 700.3303(3) allows a will with the apparent required
signatures and a sufficient attestation clause to be probated "without further
proof." Otherwise, the register may assume execution from a will that appears
properly executed or accept a sworn statement from anyone who knows the execution
circumstances, whether or not that person witnessed the will.

In a contested case where execution evidence for a non-self-proved attested will is
necessary, MCL 700.3406(1) requires at least one attesting witness who is in Michigan
and competent and able to testify. The same subsection also permits due execution of
an attested or unattested will to be proved by other evidence.

What trips people up

A notary is optional, but signer participation is not

The penalty-of-perjury route is not a notary-free shortcut for a single signer. The
testator and both witnesses must sign the dated statement, and it must contain or
incorporate the statutory execution facts and begin with the prescribed Michigan
declaration language.

Informal probate and contested proof use different shortcuts

An attestation clause can be enough for informal probate under § 3303(3), even
without self-proof. In a contested case, § 3406 supplies the more exact self-proof
presumptions and the witness-or-other-evidence fallback. Treating those proceedings
as identical overstates what the affidavit does.

Common questions

Can a codicil make the original will self-proved too?

Yes. MCL 700.2504(3) supplies a form through which a codicil is simultaneously
executed and attested and both the codicil and the original will are made
self-proved.

Can a signature on the affidavit rescue a missing will signature?

For due-execution proof, potentially. Section 2504(4) treats a signature on an
attached self-proving sworn statement as a signature on the will when necessary to
prove due execution. It does not erase the need to prove the remaining execution
requirements.

Does later witness incompetency automatically prevent probate?

No. MCL 700.3406(3) says a witness who was competent when signing does not block
admission merely because the witness later became incompetent, if the will is
otherwise satisfactorily proved.

Statutes and sources

• MCL 700.2504 — notarized simultaneous, later, and codicil forms; unsworn
  declaration route; attachment and signature-spillover rule.
  https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-Act-386-of-1998.pdf
  (accessed 2026-08-09)
• MCL 700.1202 — legacy April 30, 2020-through-June 30, 2021 audiovisual
  signing and witnessing route.
  https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-Act-386-of-1998.pdf
  (accessed 2026-08-09)
• MCL 700.3303 — informal probate without further proof, assumed execution,
  knowledgeable-person statements, and authenticated foreign-probate routes.
  https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-Act-386-of-1998.pdf
  (accessed 2026-08-09)
• MCL 700.3406 — contested-case self-proof presumptions, fraud/forgery exception,
  and proof for a non-self-proved will.
  https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-Act-386-of-1998.pdf
  (accessed 2026-08-09)