Wisconsin: Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

Wisconsin provides two ordinary routes in § 853.04. The one-step procedure
executes, attests, and self-proves the will in the same ceremony. The two-step
procedure adds a self-proving affidavit to an already-attested will later.

Attorney-supervised remote witnessing has a third path. Sections
853.03(2)(c)12 through 14 require the supervising attorney's affidavit of
compliance to be attached to the will and declare that a compliant affidavit is
a self-proving affidavit under § 853.04(2).

Who signs or swears

For both ordinary procedures, the testator and both witnesses sign and swear.
The one-step form separates the testator's declaration from the witnesses'
declaration; the two-step form has all three declare together as the people whose
names are already signed to the will.

The remote affidavit is different. The supervising attorney—not the testator or
remote witnesses—signs and swears to the affidavit of compliance before the
notarial officer.

When it may be made

The one-step affidavit is simultaneous with execution and attestation. The
two-step affidavit may be made "at any time after" the will was executed. The
statute sets no elapsed-time cutoff, but the ordinary form still requires the
testator's own sworn declaration and therefore supplies no post-death substitute.

The remote compliance affidavit follows the supervised signing and documents
the locations, technology, identity checks, and transmission or compilation of
the signed paper will or counterparts.

Officer, oath and seal

For one-step self-proof, the officer must be authorized to administer oaths under
the law of the state where execution occurs. For two-step self-proof, the
officer's authority comes from the law of the state where the affidavit occurs.
Both require the officer's certificate "under official seal."

The remote attorney affidavit is subscribed and sworn before a notarial officer.
Its statutory form includes the officer's signature, stamp, title, and, when
applicable, commission expiration.

Required recitals and form

Both ordinary forms require substantial, not verbatim, compliance. The testator
states that the instrument is the will, that signing or direction to another
signer was willing, that execution was free and voluntary, and that the testator
was at least 18, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence. The
witnesses state the corresponding execution facts, including that each signed in
the testator's conscious presence.

The remote form records more process facts: the names and addresses of the
testator, witnesses, and supervising attorney; each person's Wisconsin signing
location; identity verification; the testator's age-and-free-act declaration;
the audiovisual technology; and how the paper will or counterparts moved among
the signers and were compiled.

Attachment to the will

The one-step procedure is integrated into the simultaneous execution and
attestation ceremony; subsection (1) does not use a separate attached-or-annexed
instruction. The later two-step officer certificate must be "attached or annexed
to the will."

For remote witnessing, § 853.03(2)(c)12 directly requires the supervising
attorney's affidavit of compliance to be attached to the will.

Electronic, remote and out-of-state rules

Wisconsin's cited sections authorize remote witnessing of a paper will, not a
fully paperless electronic will. The supervised remote process produces an
attached attorney affidavit that counts as two-step self-proof.

Ordinary self-proof may occur outside Wisconsin because § 853.04 keys officer
authority to the state where the execution or later affidavit occurs. For an
uncontested will executed under the out-of-state rules in § 853.05, § 856.15(1)
also permits probate without testimony or other evidence when the will contains
an attestation clause showing execution compliance.

Probate effect and exceptions

Section 856.16 divides the evidentiary effect into layers. Unless there is proof
of fraud or forgery connected with the affidavit, compliance with § 853.03 is
conclusively presumed. Other requirements relating to valid execution are
only rebuttably presumed.

The same section has a signature-spillover rule: a signature on the affidavit is
treated as a signature on the will when needed to prove due execution. For an
uncontested will, § 856.15(1) also permits probate without testimony or other
evidence when the statutory affidavit is included.

If there is no affidavit

Section 856.16(2) expressly says admission is not dependent on a valid § 853.04
affidavit. An uncontested will with an attestation clause showing compliance with
§ 853.03 or § 853.05 may still be admitted without testimony or other evidence.

Without either shortcut, one subscribing witness may give the required sworn
statement in open court. If no competent subscribing witness lives in Wisconsin
or none can be found there after reasonable diligence, the court may use other
witnesses to prove capacity and execution, plus handwriting evidence for the
testator and one subscribing witness.

What trips people up

Wisconsin's presumptions are split, not all conclusive

The affidavit conclusively establishes compliance with the mechanics in
§ 853.03, absent affidavit fraud or forgery. Section 856.16 separately makes
"other requirements related to the valid execution" rebuttable. Describing every
recital as permanently conclusive overstates the statute.

An affidavit signature can rescue a missing will signature

Section 856.16(1)(c) treats a signature affixed to the affidavit as one affixed
to the will when necessary to prove due execution. Unlike statutes that save the
will but strip self-proved status, Wisconsin places this rule inside the same
self-proved-will effects, subject to the fraud-or-forgery exception.

Common questions

Can a Wisconsin will be made self-proving years later?

Yes. Section 853.04(2) says an attested will may be made self-proved "at any time
after its execution" if the testator and witnesses complete the qualifying
affidavit before an authorized officer with the official seal.

Is an affidavit required for uncontested probate?

No. A compliant attestation clause can also allow the court to grant uncontested
probate without testimony or other evidence.

Who signs the remote-witnessing affidavit?

The supervising attorney signs and swears to the affidavit of compliance. The
statute then treats that attached affidavit as a two-step self-proving affidavit.

What defeats the affidavit's special presumptions?

Proof of fraud or forgery in connection with the affidavit prevents the special
effects stated in § 856.16(1).

Statutes and sources

• Wis. Stat. § 853.04 — one-step and two-step self-proof, signers, timing,
  forms, officer authority, seal, and attachment: official current
  text (accessed
  2026-08-01)
• Wis. Stat. § 853.03(2)(c)12–14 — remote affidavit attachment,
  self-proving effect, and compliance form: official current
  text
  (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Wis. Stat. § 856.16 — conclusive and rebuttable presumptions, signature
  spillover, fraud-or-forgery exception, and affidavit-not-required rule:
  official current text
  (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Wis. Stat. § 856.15(1), (5) — uncontested probate without evidence,
  subscribing-witness proof, and no-witness-in-state fallback: official current
  text (accessed
  2026-08-01)
• Wis. Stat. § 853.05 — execution under another jurisdiction's law and the
  same-effect rule for a qualifying out-of-state will: official current
  text (accessed
  2026-08-16)