Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements in Vermont

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

Section 108 allows a Vermont will to be “self-proved as to its execution.” It is a short standalone procedure rather than a Uniform Probate Code-style printed form. Section 5 separately supplies the formalities that make the underlying will valid: a writing, the testator's personal or directed signature before two credible witnesses, and both witnesses' signatures in the presence of the testator and each other.

The word “may” matters. Self-proof is optional; the affidavit changes proof of execution rather than replacing § 5's signing requirements.

Who signs or swears

The sworn acknowledgment is made by “the testator and the witnesses.” Because the first listed circumstance requires two witnesses and the third speaks of each witness and the other witness, the § 108 procedure uses the testator and both attesting witnesses.

The section does not authorize a personal representative, beneficiary, or post-death requester to substitute for any of those participants.

When it may be made

Section 108 has no phrase limiting self-proof to the execution ceremony and no phrase authorizing it “at any subsequent date.” It instead requires the sworn acknowledgment to establish the circumstances of the will signing.

That silence should not be converted into a statutory promise that the affidavit may be added years later or after death. The section gives no substitute-signature route if the testator or a witness is unavailable.

Officer, oath, and seal

The acknowledgment must be made before “a notary public or other official authorized to administer oaths in the place of execution.” The officer's authority therefore turns on the place of execution, not simply on holding a Vermont commission.

Unlike many self-proof statutes, § 108 does not say that the officer must issue a certificate or affix an official seal. Those requirements should not be added to the statutory list.

Required recitals and form

The acknowledgment must establish four circumstances:

• the testator signed the instrument as a will, or expressly directed another to sign, in the presence of two witnesses;
• the signing was free and voluntary and for the purposes stated in the will;
• each witness signed at the testator's request and in the presence of the testator and the other witness; and
• to each witness's best knowledge at signing, the testator was at least eighteen or emancipated by court order, of sound mind, and free of constraint or undue influence.

Section 108 supplies no sample wording and no “substantially as follows” standard. It also does not require the affidavit to state that a witness is eighteen, of sound mind, or disinterested.

Attachment to the will

Section 108 does not say that the acknowledgment must be written on, attached to, annexed to, endorsed on, or logically associated with the will. A careful signing package should still identify the will unmistakably, but Vermont's self-proof section does not impose one of the placement formulas found in many other states.

Electronic, remote, and out-of-state rules

Vermont's remote language sits in § 5(b), not § 108. It deems remote witnesses to be in one another's presence only during the period when the named Emergency Administrative Rules for Remote Notarial Acts are in effect, only for a will signed in conformity with those rules, and only when the will uses § 108 self-proof. The statute itself therefore makes the remote route conditional; it is not a general electronic-will act.

Section 112(a) (§ 112(a)) recognizes a written, testator-subscribed will executed outside Vermont when it complied with the law of the execution place or the testator's domicile. It recognizes execution validity, not a separate foreign self-proved status.

Probate effect and exceptions

The exact statutory effect is that the will is self-proved “as to its execution.” Section 108 does not state that its recitals are conclusive, bar a contest, or prove capacity or freedom from undue influence for every purpose. It also contains no express fraud-or-forgery exception of the kind some states write into their self-proof statutes.

If there is no affidavit

A will can satisfy § 5 without using § 108. When it cannot be proved in the ordinary way because one or more subscribing witnesses are unavailable or incapable of testifying, § 110 supplies a fallback. The court may act on in-person testimony or an affidavit from at least one credible disinterested individual that the signature is in the testator's handwriting, or on other sufficient handwriting proof, if the will also complies with other legal requirements on its face.

The court retains discretion to demand additional testimony from an available subscribing witness or other pertinent proof.

What trips people up

• Vermont supplies required circumstances, not a printed statutory form. Extra witness qualifications should not be presented as part of § 108.
• The statute has no express later-affidavit clause. Do not assume another state's “at any subsequent date” rule applies here.
• Remote witnessing is conditional. Section 5(b) ties it to named emergency notarial rules and a § 108 self-proving will.
• The handwriting fallback is discretionary. Section 110 says the court “may” admit the will and may require more testimony or other facts.

Common questions

Does Vermont require a notary's official seal on the acknowledgment?

Section 108 requires a notary or another oath-authorized official, but it does not state an official-seal or officer-certificate requirement.

Can I use Vermont's self-proof section after a witness has died?

Section 108 supplies no substitute-affiant route. If the will cannot otherwise be proved because a subscribing witness is unavailable or incapable, § 110 instead provides the handwriting-proof fallback.

Does a foreign will automatically count as self-proved in Vermont?

Section 112 recognizes certain out-of-state execution methods, but it does not say that another state's self-proved status automatically carries into Vermont.

Statutes and sources

• 14 V.S.A. § 108 — self-proof as to execution, the affiants, officer, and four circumstances. http://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/14/003 (accessed 2026-08-01)
• 14 V.S.A. § 110 — unavailable-witness handwriting proof and court discretion to require more evidence. http://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/14/003 (accessed 2026-08-01)
• 14 V.S.A. § 5 — ordinary will execution and the conditional remote-presence rule. http://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/14/001 (accessed 2026-08-01)
• 14 V.S.A. § 112 — recognition of certain wills executed outside Vermont. http://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/14/003 (accessed 2026-08-01)