Texas Will Signing Requirements: Witnesses, Notary and Self-Proving Affidavit

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

These rules come from Chapter 251 of the Texas Estates Code, with the probate consequences from Chapter 256. Each is cited by section. This is general information about the statute, not advice about a particular will.

Who may make a will

Section 251.001 gives the right to make a will to a person of sound mind who, when the will is made, is 18 years of age or older, is or has been married, or is a member of the armed forces of the United States, an auxiliary of the armed forces, or the United States Maritime Service. A person competent to make a will may dispose of everything they own at death and may disinherit an heir (Section 251.002).

The three requirements

Section 251.051 sets out what a Texas will must be, except where another law provides otherwise:

1. In writing.
2. Signed by the testator in person, or by another person on the testator's behalf, in the testator's presence and under the testator's direction.
3. Attested by two or more credible witnesses who are at least 14 years of age and who subscribe their names to the will in their own handwriting in the testator's presence.

The statute says the witnesses sign in the testator's presence; it does not require the testator to sign in the witnesses' presence, though the simplest practice is for everyone to sign together. Nothing in Section 251.051 requires a notary.

Two exceptions

A will written wholly in the testator's handwriting, a holographic will, does not have to be attested by witnesses (Section 251.052). And a written will that was executed in compliance with the law of the state or country where it was signed, or where the testator was domiciled when it was signed or when the testator died, need not meet the Texas requirements (Section 251.053).

The self-proving affidavit

A self-proved will is one with a self-proving affidavit attached, sworn by the testator and the witnesses, or one that was executed, attested and made self-proved at the same time under Section 251.1045 (Section 251.101). The value is at probate: a self-proved will may be admitted without the testimony of any subscribing witness (Section 251.102). Otherwise it is treated like any other will.

The affidavit must be made by the testator and the attesting witnesses before an officer authorized to administer oaths, who affixes an official seal, and it is attached to the will (Section 251.104). The statute sets out the form of the affidavit, and an affidavit in substantial compliance with that form is sufficient. It can be signed when the will is signed or at a later date during the lifetime of the testator and the witnesses (Section 251.103). As an alternative, Section 251.1045 provides a combined form in which the will is executed, attested and made self-proved in one signing before the officer.

Two cautions from the statute. A signature placed only on the self-proving affidavit counts as a signature to the will if that is needed to prove the will was signed, but in that case the will is not self-proved (Section 251.105). And a self-proved will can be contested, revoked or amended by codicil exactly like any other will (Section 251.106). A holographic will can be made self-proved by the testator's own affidavit that the instrument is the testator's will, that the testator met the age or status requirement, was of sound mind, and has not revoked it (Section 251.107).

What happens at probate if the will is not self-proved

The applicant must prove that the will was executed with the required formalities and that the testator was of sound mind and met the age or status test (Section 256.152). For an attested will, that proof is the sworn testimony or affidavit of one or more subscribing witnesses taken in open court, with alternatives by deposition when witnesses have moved away or cannot attend, and proof of handwriting when all witnesses are dead (Section 256.153). A holographic will that is not self-proved is proved by two witnesses to the testator's handwriting (Section 256.154). A self-proved will, including one self-proved under another state's law, needs none of that (Section 256.152(b)).

How this fits a living trust plan

A trust based plan still includes a will: the pour-over will that sends anything left outside the trust into it, and names a guardian for minor children. That will is signed under exactly the rules above, so the Texas package's signing guide walks through the two witnesses and the self-proving affidavit before a notary. The trust itself is a different document with its own signing rules; see the Texas living trust page for how the whole package is signed.