Florida Will Signing Requirements: Witnesses, Notary and Self-Proof

By Rozsa Gyene, California estate planning attorney, State Bar of California #208356. Published September 28, 2026. Last reviewed September 28, 2026.

The rules come from part V of chapter 732 of the Florida Statutes. Each is cited by section. Nothing here is advice about a particular will; it describes the statute.

The signing rule

Section 732.502 requires every will to be in writing and executed as follows. The testator signs at the end, or another person subscribes the testator's name at the end in the testator's presence and at the testator's direction. The testator's signing, or the testator's acknowledgment that the will was previously signed or that another person subscribed it, must be in the presence of at least two attesting witnesses. The attesting witnesses must sign the will in the presence of the testator and in the presence of each other. No particular form of words is necessary if the formalities are met, and a codicil must be executed with the same formalities.

Two details in the statute deserve attention. The signature goes at the end of the will, and the witnesses sign together, in each other's presence and the testator's. Unlike some states, Florida sets no minimum age for a witness in this section.

Handwritten, out of state and military wills

A will executed by a nonresident of Florida is valid in Florida if it was valid under the law of the state or country where it was executed, except for a holographic or nuncupative will. A will in the testator's handwriting that was executed with the two witness formality is not considered holographic, so a handwritten will signed and witnessed properly is simply a will. A military testamentary instrument executed under 10 U.S.C. section 1044d by a person eligible for military legal assistance is valid as a will in Florida (section 732.502).

Self-proof

Section 732.503 allows a will or codicil executed under section 732.502 to be made self-proved at the time of execution or at any later date. The testator acknowledges the will and the witnesses give affidavits, made before an officer authorized to administer oaths and evidenced by the officer's certificate attached to or following the will, in substantially the statutory form. In that form the testator declares that the instrument is the testator's will, and the witnesses swear that the testator declared it to be the will and signed it in their presence, and that each witness signed in the presence of the testator and of each other. The certificate allows the acknowledgment to be taken by physical presence or by online notarization. A will made self-proved under former Florida law, or in another state under that state's law, is treated as self-proved in Florida.

After death: deposit the will within 10 days

The custodian of a will must deposit it with the clerk of the court having venue of the estate within 10 days after receiving information that the testator is dead, supplying the date of death or the last four digits of the Social Security number (section 732.901). A custodian who fails to deposit it without just cause can be compelled to do so and ordered to pay costs and attorney's fees. The clerk keeps the original for at least 20 years. The probate steps that follow are in the Florida probate process guide.

The same formalities for a living trust

Florida applies the will signing rule to the part of a revocable trust that gives property away at death. Under section 736.0403(2)(b), the testamentary aspects of a revocable trust executed by a Florida domiciliary are invalid unless the trust instrument is executed by the settlor with the formalities required for a will. That is why a Florida living trust is signed in front of two witnesses, and why the Florida package's signing guide treats the trust, the pour-over will and the self-proof affidavit as one signing session before a notary. See the Florida living trust page for the full signing steps.