New York Will Signing Requirements: EPTL 3-2.1, Witnesses and the Self-Proving Affidavit

By Rozsa Gyene, California estate planning attorney, State Bar of California #208356. Published October 1, 2026. Last reviewed October 1, 2026.

This guide quotes or closely follows the statute's own words for each requirement, as read on the New York State Senate's consolidated laws site on October 1, 2026, then covers the self-proving affidavit, the 2026 amendment and the two exceptions in EPTL 3-2.2. It is general information, not advice about a particular will.

The rule: EPTL 3-2.1

Except for nuncupative and holographic wills authorized by 3-2.2, every will must be in writing, and executed and attested in the following manner (3-2.1(a)). The four requirements are:

1. Signed at the end

The will shall be signed at the end thereof by the testator, or in the testator's name by another person in the testator's presence and by the testator's direction (3-2.1(a)(1)). The placement matters. Matter that follows the signature does not invalidate what came before it, but the matter preceding the signature may be denied effect, in the surrogate's discretion, if it is so incomplete as not to be readily comprehensible without the aid of matter which follows the signature, or if giving it effect would subvert the testator's general plan for the disposition and administration of the estate (3-2.1(a)(1)(A)). No effect is given to any matter, other than the attestation clause, which follows the signature, or to matter preceding the signature that was added after the will was executed (3-2.1(a)(1)(B)). A person who signs the testator's name must sign his or her own name and affix a residence address, and is not counted as one of the necessary attesting witnesses; a will lacking that person's signature is not given effect, though a missing address does not affect validity (3-2.1(a)(1)(C)).

2. Signed or acknowledged before each witness

The signature of the testator shall be affixed to the will in the presence of each of the attesting witnesses, or shall be acknowledged by the testator to each of them to have been affixed by the testator or by the testator's direction (3-2.1(a)(2)). The testator may do this in the presence of each witness separately, but the simplest course is one signing with everyone in the room.

3. Publication: declaring the instrument to be the will

The testator shall, at some time during the ceremony or ceremonies of execution and attestation, declare to each of the attesting witnesses that the instrument to which the signature has been affixed is the testator's will (3-2.1(a)(3)). Lawyers call this publication. A sentence such as "this is my will and I ask you to witness it" satisfies it.

4. At least two attesting witnesses, within thirty days

There shall be at least two attesting witnesses, who shall, within one thirty day period, both attest the testator's signature, as affixed or acknowledged before them, and at the request of the testator sign their names and affix their residence addresses at the end of the will (3-2.1(a)(4)). Failure of a witness to affix an address does not affect the validity of the will, and there is a rebuttable presumption that the thirty day requirement was met (3-2.1(a)(4)). The steps need not be followed in the precise order the statute lists them, so long as all the requisite formalities are observed during a period of time in which, satisfactorily to the surrogate, the ceremony or ceremonies of execution and attestation continue (3-2.1(b)).

Why a notary still shows up: the self-proving affidavit

The will itself is not notarized. The notary's role is the affidavit of the attesting witnesses under SCPA 1406. Any or all of the attesting witnesses may, at the request of the testator or, after the testator's death, of the executor, the proponent or any person interested, make an affidavit before any officer authorized to administer oaths stating such facts as would, if uncontradicted, establish the genuineness of the will, the validity of its execution, and that the testator at the time of execution was in all respects competent to make a will and not under any restraint (SCPA 1406(1)). The sworn statement of a witness so taken shall be accepted by the court as though it had been taken before the court, unless a party entitled to process in the proceeding objects or the court for any other reason requires the witnesses to be produced and examined (SCPA 1406(1)). Without it, at least two of the attesting witnesses must be produced and examined before a written will is admitted to probate, if they are in the state, competent and able to testify (SCPA 1404(1)), and the court must in any case be satisfied with the genuineness of the will and the validity of its execution (SCPA 1408). An affidavit signed at the same sitting as the will, with the notary present, is the usual practice and is what the New York package includes.

Storing the signed will

The court system advises keeping the original in a safe place that is easy to reach when needed, and notes that in some counties the Surrogate's Court has a vault where wills are stored for safekeeping until the person dies (CourtHelp, Last Will and Testament); the fee for depositing a will for safekeeping is $45 (SCPA 2402). The same page warns not to remove the staples from a will when making copies, because doing anything to the will can be a reason to invalidate it; if the staples were removed, the court requires a signed and notarized affidavit explaining why, where the will has been kept since execution, and that no substitutions or changes were made.

The 2026 amendment: electronic wills from December 12, 2027

Two bills changed the law in this area. Senate Bill S7416A, signed on December 12, 2025 as chapter 637 of the Laws of 2025, added a new Part 6 to Article 3 of the EPTL on electronic wills, with an effective date of the 545th day after it became law. Senate Bill S8887, a chapter amendment delivered to the Governor and signed on February 13, 2026 as chapter 89 of the Laws of 2026, rewrote Part 6 (sections 3-6.1 through 3-6.9, covering definitions, the law applicable to an electronic will, choice of law on execution, a caution to the testator, execution, revocation, an electronic will attested and made self-proving at the time of execution, and filing), amended EPTL 1-2.19 and 3-2.1, directed the chief administrator of the courts under Judiciary Law 212 to adopt rules to carry out Part 6, and changed the 2025 chapter's effective date to two years after it became law. On nysenate.gov the text of 3-2.1(a) now carries two versions: the current one, marked effective until December 12, 2027, and the amended one, marked effective December 12, 2027, which begins "Except for nuncupative and holographic wills authorized by 3-2.2 and electronic wills authorized by part six of this article, every will must be in writing". The four requirements above, including at least two attesting witnesses, are unchanged in the amended text. How an electronic will is executed under Part 6 is not covered here, because that part is not yet in effect and its rules have not been adopted.

Holographic and nuncupative wills: EPTL 3-2.2

A will is nuncupative when it is unwritten and its making and provisions are clearly established by at least two witnesses; a will is holographic when it is written entirely in the handwriting of the testator and is not executed and attested in accordance with the formalities of 3-2.1 (3-2.2(a)). Such wills are valid only if made by a member of the armed forces of the United States while in actual military or naval service during a war, declared or undeclared, or other armed conflict in which members of the armed forces are engaged; by a person who serves with or accompanies an armed force engaged in such a conflict; or by a mariner while at sea (3-2.2(b)). They become invalid one year after the member's discharge from the armed forces, one year after the accompanying person ceases to serve with or accompany the armed force, or three years after a mariner made the will (3-2.2(c)), extended by one year after the person regains testamentary capacity if the person lacks it when the period runs out (3-2.2(d)). To prove such a will, a nuncupative will requires at least two witnesses to its execution and contents, and a holographic will requires proof of execution and of the testator's handwriting (SCPA 1404(3)). For a civilian at home, a handwritten will that was not signed before two witnesses does not meet 3-2.1.

Wills and a living trust

A New York trust package pairs the living trust with a pour-over will, which is signed under EPTL 3-2.1 exactly like any other will and sends anything left outside the trust into it at death. The trust itself is signed differently: under EPTL 7-1.17 it must be in writing and either acknowledged before a notary in the manner required for recording a deed or signed in the presence of two witnesses. The New York living trust page lists each document and how it is signed.