§560:2-504 - Self-proved will.

     §560:2-504  Self-proved will.  (a)  A will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved, by acknowledgment thereof by the testator and affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which execution occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under official seal, in substantially the following form:

 

          I, _______________, the testator, sign my name to this instrument this _____ day of _________, and being first duly sworn, do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that I sign and execute this instrument as my will and that I sign it willingly (or willingly direct another to sign for me), that I execute it as my free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that I am eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.

 

                                  ____________________________

                                                Testator

 

          We, ____________, _______________, the witnesses, sign our names to this instrument, being first duly sworn, and do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signs and executes this instrument as the testator's will and that the testator signs it willingly (or willingly directs another to sign for the testator), and that each of us, in the presence and hearing of the testator, hereby signs this will as witness to the testator's signing, and that to the best of our knowledge the testator is eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.

 

                                  ____________________________

                                                Witness

 

                                  ____________________________

                                                Witness

 

     The State of __________

     County of _____________

          Subscribed, sworn to and acknowledged before me by _______________, the testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me by _______________, and _______________, witness, this _____ day of __________.

     (Seal)

                         (Signed)____________________________

 

                                _____________________________

                                (Official capacity of officer)

 

     (b)  An attested will may be made self-proved at any time after its execution by the acknowledgment thereof by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which the acknowledgment occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under the official seal, attached or annexed to the will in substantially the following form:

 

     The State of _______________

     County of __________________

          We,____________, ____________, and _____________, the testator and the witnesses, respectively, whose names are signed to the attached or foregoing instrument, being first duly sworn, do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signed and executed the instrument as the testator's will and that the testator had signed willingly (or willingly directed another to sign for the testator), and that the testator executed it as the testator's free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that each of the witnesses, in the presence and hearing of the testator, signed the will as witness and that to the best of the witness' knowledge the testator was at that time eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.

 

______________________

Testator

 

______________________

Witness

 

______________________

Witness

 

          Subscribed, sworn to and acknowledged before me by _______________, the testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me by _______________, and _______________, witnesses, this _____ day of __________.

     (Seal)

                         (Signed)____________________________

 

                                _____________________________

                                (Official capacity of officer)

 

     (c)  A signature affixed to a self-proving affidavit attached to a will is considered a signature affixed to the will, if necessary to prove the will's due execution. [L 1996, c 288, pt of §1]