Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements in New Hampshire

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

New Hampshire's ordinary self-proof rule is RSA 551:2-a. The section begins with the sequence that controls the document: “the signatures of the testator and witnesses shall be followed by a sworn acknowledgment.” Section 552:5-b then directs the probate court to allow a will that satisfies that section as self-proved.

There is also a separate special route. RSA 551:2-a, II and RSA 551-A:10 treat a will that satisfies the Uniform International Wills Act as self-proved. That international-will certificate is not the ordinary affidavit described below.

Who acknowledges or swears

The statutory form assigns different roles. The testator acknowledges the instrument. Both witnesses are named in the acknowledgment and swear to the execution facts. The printed form then supplies one “Signature” and “Official Capacity” block for the officer; it does not add new signature lines for the testator and witnesses because their will signatures precede the acknowledgment.

The form also covers a proxy signature. The first recital states that the testator either signed the instrument as the will or “expressly directed another to sign for the testator.” An affidavit that assumes every testator signed personally drops an alternative the statute expressly protects.

When it may be made

Section 551:2-a does not provide a second form for adding self-proof years later or after death. It says the will signatures “shall be followed by” the sworn acknowledgment before an officer authorized in the place of execution. That is materially different from statutes that expressly say an attested will may be made self-proved “at any later time.” New Hampshire's text contains no such phrase.

Officer, oath, and seal

The officer may be a notary public, a justice of the peace, or another official authorized to administer oaths in the place of execution. The statutory form ends with the officer's signature and official-capacity lines. Unlike some states' forms, RSA 551:2-a does not state that an official seal must be affixed.

Required recitals and form

The statute introduces its form with “as follows,” not “substantially as follows.” Its four numbered recitals cover:

• the testator's personal signature or express direction that another person sign;
• a free and voluntary act for the purposes expressed in the will;
• each witness signing at the testator's request, in the testator's presence, and in the other witness's presence; and
• the testator's age—or married-minor status—sane mind, and freedom from constraint or undue influence, stated to the affiants' best knowledge.

The married-minor alternative is easy to miss. The form does not simply recite that every testator was at least eighteen.

Attachment to the will

New Hampshire uses sequence rather than “attached” or “annexed” language. The testator's and witnesses' signatures “shall be followed by” the acknowledgment. Section 551:2-a does not separately describe a detached affidavit page or a later certificate that may be associated with the will after the fact.

Electronic, remote, and out-of-state rules

RSA 551:2, III permits a narrow remote execution ceremony. The testator, witnesses, and a qualifying New Hampshire attorney or supervised attorney or paralegal acting as notarial officer may communicate simultaneously by sight and sound, and the paper will may be signed in counterparts. The next sentence is an express boundary: “Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to allow an electronic will or codicil.” Section 551:2-a itself states no separate remote self-proof procedure, so the execution rule should not be treated as one.

New Hampshire does recognize self-proof created elsewhere. Under RSA 551:5, II, a will made outside the state and self-proved under the law of the state or country of execution “is self-proved in this state.” A compliant international will is also self-proved under RSA 551-A:10.

Probate effect and exceptions

Section 552:5-b says a will satisfying RSA 551:2-a, the out-of-state rule, or the international-will rule “is self-proved and shall be allowed as such by the probate court.” The affidavit supplies the ordinary proof shortcut; it does not make the will immune from review.

RSA 552:7 allows an interested party to seek reexamination in solemn form within six months after probate without notice. The court may then try issues of execution, testamentary capacity, fraud, duress, or undue influence. Self-proof therefore does not conclusively establish those contested issues.

If there is no affidavit

A missing affidavit does not erase an otherwise valid will. For an uncontested will, RSA 552:6 allows common-form probate on the testimony of one subscribing witness, even if the others are alive and available. It also provides a no-witness route when the surviving spouse, legatees, devisees, heirs at law, and—if an unnamed charitable interest exists—the director of charitable trusts assent.

If the attesting witnesses later become incompetent or the court finds their testimony unavailable, RSA 552:12 permits the will to be proved “upon other satisfactory evidence.”

What trips people up

• The form does not say “substantially.” New Hampshire's statute introduces the four recitals with “as follows,” so omitting a listed fact is not supported by an express substantial-compliance allowance.
• Remote witnessing is not an electronic-will statute. RSA 551:2, III permits a tightly supervised audio-video ceremony for a paper will and then expressly bars electronic wills.
• Self-proof does not end every probate dispute. RSA 552:7 preserves solemn-form review of execution, capacity, fraud, duress, and undue influence within its six-month period.

Common questions

Does the notary replace either witness?

No. RSA 551:2-a begins with the signatures of the testator and witnesses already on the will. The officer takes and certifies the acknowledgment; the officer is not a substitute for either attesting witness.

What if the testator cannot sign personally?

The affidavit form expressly covers a testator who “directed another to sign for the testator.” The underlying will still must satisfy RSA 551:2's execution rules; the affidavit records that route rather than creating it.

Does a will self-proved in another state need a new New Hampshire affidavit?

Not if it was self-proved according to the law where it was executed. RSA 551:5, II says that will is self-proved in New Hampshire and must be allowed as such by the probate court.

Statutes and sources

• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 551:2-a — ordinary self-proof form and international-will cross-reference. https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/551/551-2-a.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 551:2, III — supervised audio-video execution, counterparts, and express electronic-will bar. https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/551/551-2.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 551:5, II — recognition of a will self-proved where it was executed. https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/551/551-5.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 551-A:10 — a compliant international will is self-proved. https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/551-A/551-A-10.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 552:5-b — probate court treatment of self-proved wills. https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/552/552-5-b.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 552:6 — common-form proof by one witness or assent. https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/552/552-6.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 552:7 — six-month solemn-form review and contest issues. https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/552/552-7.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 552:12 — other satisfactory evidence when witnesses are incompetent or unavailable. https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/552/552-12.htm (accessed 2026-08-01)