Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements in Mississippi

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

Mississippi Code §§ 91-7-7 and 91-7-9 create the affidavit route, with a special nonresident or missing-witness procedure in § 91-7-11. Mississippi's mechanism is witness-only: it preserves proof of due execution without asking the testator to join a UPC-style acknowledgment.

Who signs or swears

Any subscribing witness may make the affidavit. The testator does not sign or swear. Although an ordinary typed will must be attested by two credible witnesses, § 91-7-7 says due execution must be proved by at least one living, competent subscribing witness. Read with § 91-7-9, one qualifying witness affidavit can therefore supply the required uncontested proof.

When it may be made

Section 91-7-7 expressly permits the affidavits to be signed when the will is executed. Sections 91-7-9 and 91-7-11 also operate when the will is later presented for probate, allowing an uncontested affidavit to replace personal attendance, including when the subscribing witness resides outside Mississippi or cannot be found in the state.

Officer, oath and seal

For the ordinary in-state route, the affidavit must be made before and certified by a Mississippi officer competent to administer oaths. For a nonresident witness, § 91-7-11 allows an officer competent to administer oaths in the state where the witness is found. Neither provision separately commands an official seal.

Required recitals and form

Mississippi supplies no statutory affidavit form and no verbatim or substantial- compliance formula. The affidavit must prove due execution, and § 91-7-7 adds one concrete content rule: it must state the address of each subscribing witness. The execution facts come from § 91-5-1—the testator's signature or directed signature and attestation by two credible witnesses in the testator's presence.

Attachment to the will

The affidavits may be annexed to the will or made part of it. Mississippi does not state a separate secure-affixing officer duty, permit a loose affidavit, or provide an electronic “logically associated” alternative in these sections.

Electronic, remote and out-of-state rules

A nonresident subscribing witness may make the uncontested affidavit before an oath officer in the state where the witness is found. If an affidavit is not used, § 91-7-11 allows a commission to take the witness's deposition using the original will or a clerk-certified photostatic copy.

The cited statutes provide no electronic-will, remote-affidavit, or blanket foreign-self-proof rule. Section 91-5-1 continues to require a written will signed by or for the testator and, unless wholly handwritten and subscribed, attested by two credible witnesses in the testator's presence. The 2025 and 2026 video-will proposals both died and would have addressed nuncupative wills, not this affidavit mechanism.

Probate effect and exceptions

When there is no contest, § 91-7-9 says the certified affidavit “shall be received” as a substitute for the affiant's personal attendance to prove the will. The shortcut proves due execution; it is not a statutory declaration that capacity or freedom from undue influence is conclusively established.

The no-contest limitation matters. Section 91-7-9 does not make an affidavit an automatic substitute once the will is contested, and it does not prevent an interested person from challenging execution or other grounds.

If there is no affidavit

At least one living and competent subscribing witness ordinarily proves due execution. If none can be produced, § 91-7-7 permits proof of the handwriting of the testator and the subscribing witnesses, or some of them. If a witness resides outside Mississippi or cannot be found, § 91-7-11 permits a commission and deposition with the will attached; a clerk-certified photostatic copy may be sent instead while the original remains filed.

What trips people up

The witness address is mandatory content

Mississippi does not provide a long statutory affidavit form, but it expressly requires each subscribing witness's address. A generic proof affidavit that omits addresses misses the one recital the statute actually specifies.

The affidavit shortcut is limited to no-contest probate

The certified statement replaces the affiant's attendance only “where there is no contest about it.” It is efficient common-form proof, not protection against a later challenge.

Common questions

Must both Mississippi witnesses sign proof affidavits?

Not to satisfy the minimum proof rule. Section 91-7-7 requires proof from at least one living, competent subscribing witness, and § 91-7-9 accepts the affidavit of any subscribing witness in an uncontested case. Using both remains a conservative practice.

Can a Mississippi witness who moved away use an affidavit?

Yes, if probate is uncontested. Section 91-7-11 permits the nonresident witness to swear before a competent oath officer in the state where the witness is found.

Statutes and sources

• Miss. Code Ann. §§ 91-7-7 and 91-7-9 — minimum witness proof, affidavit addresses and attachment, execution-time signing, certification, and uncontested attendance substitution: Official Code of Mississippi Annotated Title 91 transform (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 91-7-11 — nonresident/missing-witness affidavit, commission, deposition, and certified-copy procedure: Official Code of Mississippi Annotated Title 91 transform (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Miss. Code Ann. § 91-5-1 — ordinary written-will signature and attestation baseline: Official Code of Mississippi Annotated Title 91 transform (accessed 2026-08-01)