Texas: Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

Texas has more than one self-proof architecture. Section 251.101 recognizes an
attached or annexed affidavit under § 251.104 and a second route in which the will
is simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved under § 251.1045. A will
written wholly in the testator's handwriting uses the separate testator-only
affidavit in § 251.107.

Who signs or swears

For the attached route, § 251.104(d) distinguishes the roles: the testator subscribes
and acknowledges, while the attesting witnesses subscribe and swear. The detailed
safe-harbor form places all three before the officer and uses sworn language in its
certificate. The combined § 251.1045 route expressly has the testator and both
witnesses sworn during the same ceremony. A holographic will needs no witness
affidavits; § 251.107 calls only for the testator's affidavit.

When it may be made

Section 251.103 permits an attested will to be made self-proved at execution or at a
later date, but the later route closes when either the testator or a witness dies:
the statute expressly limits it to "the lifetime of the testator and the witnesses."
The combined route occurs as the will is executed. The holographic affidavit may be
attached at any time during the testator's lifetime.

Officer, oath and seal

Both attested-will routes use an officer authorized to administer oaths. For the
attached affidavit, § 251.104(b) is mandatory: "The officer shall affix the officer's
official seal." The combined form likewise contains a seal and officer-capacity
block. A notary certificate without the seal does not track the statutory route.

Required recitals and form

Substantial compliance is the standard, but Texas' form is detailed. The attached
affidavit covers the testator's declaration that the instrument is the will and was
made willingly as a free act, the testator's qualifying age or status and sound mind,
the request that the witnesses sign, each witness's signature in the testator's
presence and at the testator's request, and the fact that each witness was at least
14. Section 251.1045 adds the simultaneous ceremony: everyone is present at the same
time, and the witnesses sign in the presence of the testator, each other, and the
officer.

Attachment to the will

The ordinary affidavit must be attached or annexed. The combined form is included in
the will itself, and the holographic affidavit is attached or annexed. Texas also has
two unusual copy/signature rules. Under § 251.105, an affidavit signature may count
as the missing signature to the will when needed to prove execution, but that trade
means the will is no longer self-proved. Current § 256.156(c), effective since 2025,
also says a copy of an unavailable original remains self-proved when the copy includes
a compliant copy of the affidavit.

Electronic, remote and out-of-state rules

The current Estates Code contains no electronic-will or remote-self-proof procedure.
Chapter 251 instead uses an oath-authorized officer and an attached, annexed, or
in-will form. Foreign self-proof is recognized more broadly. Section 256.152(b)
accepts self-proof under the law of the place of execution or the testator's domicile
or residence at the relevant time, and subsection (c) supplies an alternate content-
based safe harbor without further proof of that foreign law.

Probate effect and exceptions

Section 251.102 allows admission without testimony from any subscribing witness, but
immediately adds that a self-proved will may not otherwise be treated differently.
Section 251.106 makes the boundary explicit: the will may still be contested,
revoked, or amended by codicil in the same manner as a non-self-proved will. The
§ 251.105 signature-spillover rule is another exception—the affidavit may help prove
signing, but the will then loses self-proved status.

If there is no affidavit

The ordinary proof route is detailed rather than fatal. Section 256.153 begins with
the sworn testimony or affidavit of one or more subscribing witnesses in open court,
then supplies deposition and signature- or handwriting-proof alternatives when the
witnesses are away, unavailable, or dead. A non-self-proved holographic will uses two
witnesses to the testator's handwriting under § 256.154. Section 256.152(a) also
requires the applicant to prove execution and the testator's qualifying age/status
and sound mind when the will is not self-proved.

What trips people up

Texas has two attested-will forms, not one. An attached § 251.104 affidavit is
different from the § 251.1045 block that performs execution, attestation, and self-
proof simultaneously inside the will. Mixing their recital sets can omit a fact the
chosen route is designed to preserve.

A later affidavit has a lifetime cutoff. Unlike a statute that merely says "any
subsequent date," § 251.103 requires both the testator and witnesses to remain alive.
After one of them dies, probate must use the ordinary proof rules.

The seal is statutory, not decorative. Section 251.104(b) says the officer shall
affix the official seal. A form that supplies only a notary signature and commission-
expiration line omits an express condition.

An affidavit signature can save less than you expect. Section 251.105 may treat a
signature on the affidavit as a signature to the will, but only by taking away the
will's self-proved status. The estate still has to prove the will through Chapter 256.

Handwritten wills follow a different signer rule. A will wholly in the testator's
handwriting may be self-proved by the testator's own affidavit. Do not add two witness
affidavits to § 251.107 or confuse its lifetime-only route with the attested-will form.

Common questions

Can we add a self-proving affidavit years after signing?
Yes, but only during the lifetime of the testator and the attesting witnesses under
§ 251.103. The same people must still be available for the statutory acts.

Does everyone have to be present at the same time?
The combined § 251.1045 route expressly requires simultaneous presence. The attached
§ 251.104 form has its own recital and officer requirements; use that form rather than
importing or deleting terms from the combined block.

Does self-proof prevent a will contest?
No. Section 251.106 says a self-proved will may be contested in the same manner as a
will that is not self-proved. The affidavit removes subscribing-witness testimony at
ordinary admission; it does not make the instrument conclusive.

How is an attested will proved without the affidavit?
Usually through sworn testimony or an affidavit from one or more subscribing
witnesses in open court. Section 256.153 adds deposition and handwriting/signature
fallbacks when witnesses cannot attend or are no longer living.

Statutes and sources

• Tex. Est. Code §§ 251.101-251.103 — available attested-will routes, probate
  effect, equal treatment, and execution/later-lifetime timing. —
  https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/ES/htm/ES.251.htm — accessed 2026-08-01
• Tex. Est. Code § 251.104 — attached-affidavit signer roles, officer, mandatory
  seal, attachment, substantial-compliance form, and recitals. —
  https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/ES/htm/ES.251.htm — accessed 2026-08-01
• Tex. Est. Code § 251.1045 — combined simultaneous execution, attestation, and
  self-proof form. — https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/ES/htm/ES.251.htm —
  accessed 2026-08-01
• Tex. Est. Code §§ 251.105-251.107 — signature spillover, contest/revocation/
  codicil boundary, and holographic-will self-proof. —
  https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/ES/htm/ES.251.htm — accessed 2026-08-01
• Tex. Est. Code § 256.152 — additional proof for a non-self-proved will and
  recognition/content safe harbors for foreign self-proof. —
  https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/ES/htm/ES.256.htm — accessed 2026-08-01
• Tex. Est. Code §§ 256.153-256.154 — ordinary witness, deposition, signature/
  handwriting, and holographic-will proof routes. —
  https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/ES/htm/ES.256.htm — accessed 2026-08-01
• Tex. Est. Code § 256.156(c) — a missing original's copy remains self-proved
  when it includes a compliant affidavit copy. —
  https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/ES/htm/ES.256.htm — accessed 2026-08-01