Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements in Wyoming

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

Wyoming places two forms in § 2-6-114. Subsections § 2-6-114(a)-(b) combine execution, attestation, self-proof, and the signature effect. Subsection § 2-6-114(c) applies to an attested will and permits self-proof at execution or later. Sections 2-6-204 and 2-6-205 then state the probate consequences with and without self-proof.

Who signs or swears

Both routes use the testator and both witnesses. The testator acknowledges willing personal or directed signing and signs. Each witness is sworn, makes the required execution statements, and signs. The officer then certifies the testator's subscription, oath, and acknowledgment and the witnesses' subscriptions and oaths.

There is no executor, beneficiary, or other post-death substitute for the testator or an attesting witness in § 2-6-114.

When it may be made

Subsection (a) is the one-ceremony route: the will is “simultaneously executed, attested and made self-proven.” Subsection (c) is broader. It permits an attested will to be made self-proven “at the time of its execution or at any subsequent date.”

The later route still needs the testator and both witnesses, so its open-ended timing language does not create a post-death substitute-affiant procedure.

Officer, oath, and seal

For the simultaneous route, the officer must be authorized to administer oaths under the law of the state where execution occurs. Subsection (c) names an officer authorized under Wyoming law or the law of the state where execution occurs.

Both routes require the officer's certificate under official seal. The printed forms include the officer's signature, official capacity, and a seal line.

Required recitals and form

The forms need only be followed substantially. The testator states that the instrument is the testator's last will, that signing or directed signing was willing, that execution was a free and voluntary act for the purposes expressed, and that the testator is an adult of sound mind and under no constraint or undue influence.

The witnesses make the matching execution statements and state that each signed in the testator's presence and hearing—or appeared through qualifying audio-video technology and could see and hear the testator in real time. The form does not say the witnesses must sign in each other's presence.

Attachment to the will

Subsection (c) expressly requires the officer's sealed certificate to be “attached or annexed to the will.” Its form also identifies the “attached or foregoing instrument.” Subsection (a) does not use a separate attachment phrase.

Section 2-6-114(b) adds an important signature rule: executing the testator's acknowledgment and the witnesses' affidavits satisfies § 2-6-112's requirement that the testator and witnesses sign the will.

Electronic, remote, and out-of-state rules

Wyoming expressly accommodates remote witnesses. Sections 2-6-112(b) and 2-6-114 permit witnesses to appear through audio-video technology if they can see and hear the testator in real time, assess competency and voluntariness, and sign electronically by secure means. The statutory text does not give the testator a parallel electronic-signature route.

Section 2-6-116 recognizes a written will executed under specified foreign law, but it addresses execution validity rather than automatically importing another state's self-proved status.

Probate effect and exceptions

Section 2-6-204 is direct: a will complying with § 2-6-114 “shall be probated without further proof.” The self-proof section states no conclusive presumption, contest bar, or express fraud-or-forgery exception. It changes execution proof; it does not decide every possible will challenge.

If there is no affidavit

Section 2-6-205 permits oral or written testimony from one or more subscribing witnesses. A written witness statement may be executed and sworn at the will signing or any time later, before or after the testator's death.

If every witness is deceased or otherwise unavailable, the will may be proved by the sworn testimony of two credible disinterested witnesses establishing the handwriting of the testator and witnesses, or by other sufficient evidence of the will's execution.

What trips people up

• The officer's official seal is required. A notary signature and commission expiration alone do not reproduce § 2-6-114's certificate requirement.
• The later route still needs all three participants. “Any subsequent date” does not authorize a substitute after the testator or a witness dies.
• Remote electronic signing is witness-specific. The statute authorizes secure electronic signatures for witnesses, not a general electronic will signed by the testator.
• Mutual witness presence is not a self-proof recital. The form requires each witness to be in the testator's presence and hearing, or connected by qualifying real-time audio-video.

Common questions

Can a Wyoming will be made self-proving later?

Yes. Section 2-6-114(c) allows an attested will to be made self-proven at any subsequent date, but the testator and both witnesses still must participate before the authorized officer.

Can the witnesses sign remotely?

Yes, if the audio-video and secure-signing conditions in §§ 2-6-112(b) and 2-6-114 are met. The witnesses must be able to see and hear the testator in real time and assess competency and voluntariness.

What if the will has no self-proving affidavit and the witnesses are gone?

Section 2-6-205(c) permits two credible disinterested witnesses to prove the handwriting of the testator and attesting witnesses, or permits other sufficient evidence of execution.

Statutes and sources

• Wyo. Stat. § 2-6-114 — both self-proof routes, substantial forms, remote witness language, signature effect, attachment, officer certificate, and official seal. https://www.wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Wyo. Stat. § 2-6-204 — probate without further proof. https://www.wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Wyo. Stat. § 2-6-205 — subscribing-witness proof and the unavailable-witness fallback. https://www.wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Wyo. Stat. § 2-6-112 — remote witness appearance and secure electronic signing. https://www.wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf (accessed 2026-08-01)
• Wyo. Stat. § 2-6-116 — foreign execution validity. https://www.wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf (accessed 2026-08-01)