Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements in North Dakota

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

North Dakota has separate paper and electronic statutes. Section 30.1-08-04 covers a paper will executed with attesting witnesses and offers both execution-time and later self-proof. Section 30.1-37-06 covers an electronic will but only when it is simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proving. Section 30.1-15-06 sets the contested-case proof tracks.

The distinction matters because North Dakota also permits a will to be validly executed by acknowledgment before a notary without witnesses. That notary-only will receives a probate presumption, but it is not the witness-affidavit self-proof form in § 30.1-08-04.

Who signs or swears

Both self-proof statutes require the testator and two witnesses. The testator is sworn, declares willing personal or directed signing, and signs. Both witnesses are sworn, make the execution recitals, and sign. The officer then completes the certificate under official seal.

An electronic will executed only through notary acknowledgment under the separate execution statute does not have witness affidavits and therefore does not fit § 30.1-37-06's self-proof form.

When it may be made

For a witnessed paper will, § 30.1-08-04 allows simultaneous self-proof or later self-proof “at any time after its execution.” The later form still requires the testator and both witnesses.

Electronic timing is narrower. Section 30.1-37-06 authorizes only a will “simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proving.” It supplies no later electronic affidavit form.

Officer, oath, and seal

For paper self-proof, the officer must be authorized under the law of the state where execution or the later acknowledgment occurs. For electronic self-proof, the officer's authority comes from the law of the state where execution occurs. Both routes require the officer's certificate under official seal.

Required recitals and form

Both forms need only substantial compliance. They require willing and free personal or directed signing, age eighteen or older, sound mind, and no constraint or undue influence. Each witness declares signing “in the presence and hearing of the testator.”

The forms do not add mutual witness presence or signing at the testator's request. Those are not North Dakota self-proof recitals.

Attachment to the will

For paper wills, the officer certificate must be attached or annexed. A signature on the attached affidavit counts as a will signature if needed to prove due execution.

Electronic self-proof uses record-association language: the sealed officer certificate must be “affixed to or logically associated with” the electronic will. A signature physically or electronically affixed to that associated affidavit is deemed a signature of the electronic will.

Electronic, remote, and out-of-state rules

Electronic self-proof is express but execution-time-only. The certificate must be under official seal and affixed or logically associated with the will. The cited sections do not separately authorize remote witnessing or remote notarization, and they do not provide a distinct foreign-self-proof recognition rule.

The officer may be authorized by another state's law when the paper or electronic execution occurs there, but the North Dakota self-proof form and association rules still control this route.

Probate effect and exceptions

Under § 30.1-15-06(1), a paper will self-proved under § 30.1-08-04 complies with execution without testimony from an attesting witness after filing the will and the attached acknowledgment and affidavits. Evidence of fraud or forgery affecting the acknowledgment or affidavit defeats the shortcut.

The probate section expressly cites the paper self-proof statute. The electronic will act states that an electronic will is a will for all purposes, but § 30.1-15-06 has not been rewritten to name § 30.1-37-06; do not overstate the cross-reference.

If there is no affidavit

North Dakota separates the fallback by execution route. A notarized but not self-proved will receives a rebuttable presumption that it complies with execution requirements upon filing. A witnessed will ordinarily requires testimony from at least one attesting witness who is in the state, competent, and able to testify.

Other evidence may establish execution, including a witness affidavit, and a signed attestation clause creates a rebuttable presumption that its recited events occurred.

What trips people up

• A notarized will is not automatically self-proved. It receives a rebuttable presumption, while self-proof uses testator-plus-witness affidavits.
• Electronic self-proof is execution-time-only. The later paper route does not carry into § 30.1-37-06.
• Both routes require an official seal. Electronic association does not replace the seal.
• The probate cross-reference names the paper statute. Readers should not be told that § 30.1-15-06 expressly names electronic self-proof when it does not.

Common questions

Can a witnessed paper will be made self-proved later?

Yes. Section 30.1-08-04 allows it at any time after execution, using the later form with the testator, both witnesses, and a sealed officer certificate.

Can an electronic will be made self-proved later?

Section 30.1-37-06 provides only simultaneous execution, attestation, and self-proof. It does not state a later electronic route.

What if the will was acknowledged before a notary but has no affidavit?

Section 30.1-15-06(2) gives that will a rebuttable presumption of proper execution upon filing. That is different from witness-free proof under the self-proved-will subsection.

Statutes and sources

• N.D. Cent. Code § 30.1-08-04 — paper witnessed-will self-proof, both timing routes, seal, attachment, and signature spillover. https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c08.pdf (accessed 2026-08-01)
• N.D. Cent. Code § 30.1-37-06 — execution-time electronic self-proof, logical association, seal, and electronic signature spillover. https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c37.pdf (accessed 2026-08-01)
• N.D. Cent. Code § 30.1-15-06 — contested-case proof for self-proved, notarized, and witnessed wills. https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c15.pdf (accessed 2026-08-01)