Florida Self-Proving Affidavit: Requirements and Probate Use

A Florida self-proving affidavit is a notarized sworn statement, signed by you and your two witnesses at the time you execute your will, that lets the probate court admit the will without tracking down those witnesses later. It isn’t required for a valid will in Florida, but leaving it off can add weeks or months to probate and give unhappy heirs an easier opening to contest.¹

What the Affidavit Does at Probate

A self-proved will can be admitted to probate with no further proof of its validity.² Without one, the court needs at least one attesting witness to appear and swear under oath that the will is authentic. If the witnesses can’t be located or their testimony can’t be obtained in a reasonable time, the will can still be proved through the oath of the nominated personal representative or a disinterested person who believes it is the decedent’s true last will, but that fallback is slower and easier to attack.

The affidavit also creates prima facie evidence that the will was properly executed. Anyone who wants to challenge the will has to bring evidence of a problem, rather than your family having to prove everything was done correctly.³ The whole thing costs almost nothing to add. Florida caps notary fees at $10 for a standard in-person notarial act.⁴

The Will Itself Must Be Validly Executed First

An affidavit only helps if the will underneath it is valid. Florida requires every will to be in writing, and the testator must be at least 18 (or an emancipated minor) and of sound mind.⁵ The signing formalities are rigid:

The testator must sign at the end of the will, or another person can sign the testator’s name at the end in the testator’s presence and at the testator’s direction.
At least two attesting witnesses must watch the testator sign or hear the testator acknowledge a prior signature.
Both witnesses must sign the will in the presence of the testator and in the presence of each other.⁶

Florida does not recognize holographic (handwritten, unwitnessed) wills made by Florida residents. Any competent person can serve as a witness, and a will isn’t invalidated because a witness has an interest in the estate, though using disinterested witnesses cuts down on later challenges.⁷

How to Make the Affidavit Valid

The affidavit can be completed at the same time the will is signed or at any later date. The testator acknowledges the will, and the witnesses swear under oath that they watched the testator sign, that the testator declared the document to be their will, and that the witnesses signed in the presence of the testator and each other. All of this happens before an officer authorized to administer oaths, which in practice means a notary public.¹

The notary confirms the identity of the testator and both witnesses, either through personal knowledge or by reviewing government-issued identification, then attaches a certificate to the will using the language specified by statute. The standard is substantial compliance with that form. Small deviations won’t automatically void the affidavit, but the further you stray from the statutory wording, the more risk you take on.

The mistakes that most often ruin an affidavit are basic ones: a witness signs the affidavit but not the will itself, the notary doesn’t properly identify a signer, or not everyone is present together when it’s completed. Any of those can render the affidavit ineffective, dropping you back to the live-witness process the affidavit was meant to avoid.

Remote Online Notarization

Florida allows self-proving affidavits to be notarized through remote online notarization (RON), with the testator, witnesses, and notary connected by live audio-video instead of meeting in person. The statutory form for the affidavit includes checkboxes for either physical presence or online notarization.¹

The online notary must be physically located in Florida, though the testator and witnesses can be anywhere. Identity verification is more involved: the notary must confirm each person’s identity through remote presentation and analysis of a government-issued ID, plus knowledge-based authentication or another approved identity-proofing method. If identity can’t be verified through these steps, the online notarization cannot proceed.⁸

One caveat matters specifically for electronic wills: if the online notarization involves a “substantial failure” to follow these procedures, the will cannot be admitted to probate as self-proved and would have to be proved through witness testimony or other means.² Online notary fees are capped at $25 per notarial act, higher than the $10 in-person cap.⁹

What the Affidavit Doesn’t Protect Against

A self-proving affidavit is strong evidence, not a shield against every challenge. Florida courts will still hear claims of fraud, duress, mistake, or undue influence, and a will procured through any of these is void regardless of whether it was self-proved. If only part of the will was tainted, that portion is void and the rest stands.¹⁰

The affidavit’s value in a contest is procedural. Once the proponent presents it, the court presumes the will was formally executed and properly attested, and the contestant carries the burden of proving whatever grounds they’re raising.³ Where the affidavit itself was improperly executed, the court can disregard it, and the proponent has to prove the will through witnesses under the standard process.

Out-of-State Wills Brought to Florida

If you executed a will and self-proving affidavit in another state, Florida generally honors it. A will made self-proved under the laws of the state where it was executed is considered self-proved in Florida.¹ Separately, any will other than a holographic or oral will executed by a nonresident is valid in Florida if it was valid under the laws of the state or country where it was signed.⁶

If you’ve relocated to Florida permanently, having a Florida attorney review the will is still worthwhile. Florida’s rules, including the ban on resident holographic wills and the two-witness requirement, differ from many states, and confirming compliance now avoids surprises during probate.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 732.503 – Self-Proof of Will
2
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 733.201 – Proof of Wills
3
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 733.107 – Burden of Proof in Contests; Presumption of Undue Influence
4
Florida Senate. Florida Code 117.05 – Use of Notary Commission
5
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 732.501 – Who May Make a Will
6
Florida Senate. Florida Code 732.502 – Execution of Wills
7
Florida Senate. Florida Code 732.504 – Who May Witness
8
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 117.265 – Online Notarization Procedures
9
Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 117 – Notaries Public
10
Florida Senate. Florida Code 732.5165 – Effect of Fraud, Duress, Mistake, and Undue Influence