Readable version: Will signing and witness rules by state, explained state by state. All site datasets: open data · data roundups.
What this dataset covers
The signing formalities for a will in each state and DC: the number of witnesses, what happens when a witness inherits, whether a self-proving affidavit is allowed and who notarizes it, whether handwritten (holographic) and electronic wills are recognized, remote witnessing, and the minimum age for the will-maker and witnesses.
Most often unconfirmed in this release: remote (39), electronic (36), holographic (27), interested (26), min_age (18). 14 jurisdictions have their own page on the site (AK, AZ, DE, FL, MO, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, UT, VT, WA, WV); their rows also carry the explanatory text and all sources shown there.
Field dictionary
| Field | Meaning | Type | In this release |
|---|---|---|---|
jurisdiction_code | Two-letter postal code of the state or DC. | string | 51 of 51 filled |
jurisdiction | State name (or District of Columbia). | string | 51 of 51 filled |
witnesses.n | Number of witnesses required. | integer | 45 of 51 filled; 0 to 2 |
witnesses.text | The witness rule in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 14 of 51 filled |
interested.effect | What happens when a witness also inherits under the will. | string (code) | 25 of 51 filled: none (12), gift_at_risk (12), restricted (1) |
interested.text | The interested-witness rule in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 14 of 51 filled |
self_proving.allowed | Whether a self-proving affidavit is allowed. | boolean | 33 of 51 filled: true (33) |
self_proving.notary | Who takes the self-proving affidavit. | string (code) | 33 of 51 filled: officer (21), notary (6), not_stated (3), officer_or_declaration (3) |
self_proving.later | Whether the affidavit can be added after the signing. | boolean | 14 of 51 filled: true (14) |
self_proving.text | The self-proving rule in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 13 of 51 filled |
holographic.status | Whether handwritten wills without witnesses are recognized. | string (code) | 24 of 51 filled: yes (20), no (3), limited (1) |
holographic.text | The holographic will rule in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 9 of 51 filled |
electronic.status | Whether electronic wills are authorized. | string (code) | 15 of 51 filled: yes (12), no (2), pending (1) |
electronic.statute | Statute authorizing electronic wills. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string | 7 of 51 filled |
electronic.text | The electronic will rule in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 7 of 51 filled |
remote.status | Whether witnesses may take part remotely. | string (code) | 12 of 51 filled: yes (8), limited (3), no (1) |
remote.text | The remote witnessing rule in plain English. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 7 of 51 filled |
min_age.age | Minimum age to make a will. | integer | 33 of 51 filled; 14 to 18 |
witness_age.age | Minimum age for a witness, where the state sets one. | integer | 5 of 51 filled; 14 to 18 |
notes | Other points from the official source. Present only for jurisdictions that have their own page on the site. | string (free text) | 8 of 51 filled |
unconfirmed | Fields the official sources read did not confirm for this row. Those values are null. | array of strings | 50 of 51 rows list at least one |
source_urls | Links to the official sources (all of them for jurisdictions with their own page; the main linked source for the others). | array of strings | 50 of 51 filled |
checked | When the row's sources were opened (YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD). A row with no official source carries the date of the check that found none. | date (YYYY-MM-DD) | 51 of 51 filled |
page_url | The page on mcc-solutionsnj.com that explains this row. | string (URL) | 51 of 51 filled |
Preview: the first 10 rows
jurisdiction | witnesses.n | self_proving.allowed | holographic.status | electronic.status | remote.status | checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 2 | true | null | null | null | 2026-11 |
| Alaska | 2 | true | yes | null | null | 2026-11 |
| Arizona | 2 | true | yes | yes | limited | 2026-11 |
| Arkansas | 2 | null | null | null | null | 2026-11 |
| California | 2 | null | yes | null | null | 2026-11 |
| Colorado | null | null | null | yes | null | 2026-11 |
| Connecticut | null | null | null | null | null | 2026-11 |
| Delaware | 2 | true | no | null | null | 2026-11 |
| District of Columbia | 2 | null | null | yes | null | 2026-11 |
| Florida | 2 | true | null | yes | yes | 2026-11 |
7 of 24 columns shown; the downloads have every column in full.
Download formats
The CSV has one row per jurisdiction and one column per field above, UTF-8, comma-separated. Nested fields use dotted names (witnesses.n); lists are joined with | , and lists of objects become key: value; key: value items. The JSON keeps types (numbers, true/false, null, arrays) and includes this dictionary, the license and the checked date.
License
License: free to copy, share and adapt, including commercially, under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Attribution required: credit "MCC Solutions" and link to this dataset page (https://mcc-solutionsnj.com/data/will-signing). The cite box below has text ready to paste.
Accuracy
Accuracy: every fact comes from an official government page as it read when checked (November 2026 for this release). Anything those pages did not confirm is null and named in the row's unconfirmed list; a null that is not on the list means the point does not apply or the source states none. This is general information, not legal or tax advice. We are not lawyers, and MCC Solutions is not a law firm.
Cite this data
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit MCC Solutions and link to https://mcc-solutionsnj.com/data/will-signing.
Changelog
- November 2026: sources checked for all 51 jurisdictions; this release has 24 fields, 318 confirmed values and 170 unconfirmed items.
- Downloads are generated from the data files on each request, so a corrected file shows up in the CSV and JSON straight away; a new entry is added here when the sources are checked again.