New York Will Signing Day Kit: New York's Witness and Notary Rules, Signing-Day Checklist, Witness Sheet and Original-Will Record

Who it is for

Anyone signing a will in New York, and the family member, friend or office helping set up the signing. Who can make a will, per the official page: 18 or older, of sound mind and memory.

Not the right fit if

The person signing isn't in New York, you still need the will written (that's a lawyer's job), or someone may contest it. Not a will form or a legal service.

Why it is different

• Built only from our New York will signing data file, checked November 2026 against EPTL 3-2.1, Execution and attestation of wills (New York State Senate); EPTL 3-2.2, Nuncupative and holographic wills (New York State Senate); EPTL 3-3.2, Competence of attesting witness who is beneficiary (New York State Senate); EPTL 3-1.1, Who may make wills (New York State Senate); SCPA 1406, Proof of will by affidavit of attesting witness (New York State Senate); Matter of Holmgren, 2022 NY Slip Op 22049 (Surrogate's Court, Queens County, February 23, 2022).
• All 7 New York facts are confirmed on an official page.
• Also from the file: Witnesses add their home addresses when the testator asks. Leaving an address off doesn't make the will invalid.

What is inside

• Start here. The 7 confirmed New York facts at a glance.
• New York signing-day checklist. Bring 2 witnesses. The rule: Two witnesses, who sign within one 30-day period. The testator signs at the end of the will. Pick witnesses who get nothing under the will and aren't married to someone who does. If a beneficiary would have to witness, stop and call the lawyer first: The will stands, but a gift to a witness is void unless two other witnesses who get nothing also signed. A witness who would inherit anyway can keep up to that share. Have a notary or another officer who can administer oaths there for the self-proving affidavit. The statute names that officer rather than notaries by name. Witnesses can sign an affidavit, at the testator's request during life, before any officer authorized to administer oaths. The court accepts it as if the witness had testified. The rule here: The will stands, but a gift to a witness is void unless two other witnesses who get nothing also signed.
• Witness information sheet. One block per New York witness (2 required, plus a spare).
• Original-will storage and location record. Where the original is and who has copies. Handwritten wills in New York: Only for members of the armed forces in actual service during a war or armed conflict, people serving with them, and mariners at sea. These wills expire after a set time.
• New York will signing tracker (Excel). Steps, ID, copies and review dates. Remote witnessing in New York: Not now. Executive Order 202.14 let audio-video technology satisfy the presence requirement only from April 7, 2020 to June 25, 2021, as the Queens County Surrogate's Court noted in Matter of Holmgren (2022). Electronic wills: Not yet. The version of the execution section that takes effect December 12, 2027 refers to electronic wills under a new part six.