[WSBAPT] Notarize Will requirement - RPPT Digest, Vol 144, Issue 28

Wed Sep 30 10:48:39 PDT 2026

If the witnesses signed a sworn declaration, including a statement that they were declaring under penalty of perjury under the laws of the state of Washington, and recited the elements required for witnessing a will, then the Will should be acceptable without notarization. If the witness declaration was not worded properly, however, then it may be necessary to locate the witnesses if possible and get sworn statements from them.

Sharon C. Rutberg, Attorney at Law
Salmon Bay Law Group, PLLC
150 Nickerson St., Suite 101
Seattle, WA 98109
Ph: 206-735-3177
Fx: 206-666-3736
sharon at salmonbaylaw.com
Website: http://www.salmonbaylaw.com/
Washington State Bar #47055

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Notarized Will required to admit to probate vs valid  Will
      (Eric Nelsen)

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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2026 17:45:19 +0000
From: Eric Nelsen <eric at sayrelawoffices.com>
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBAPT] Notarized Will required to admit to probate vs
        valid   Will
Message-ID:
        <SA1PR05MB788863E9CAA394BBBB0B1162DD8B2 at SA1PR05MB7888.namprd05.prod.outlook.com>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Notarization is of the witnesses' signatures, rather than the testator. If the will has an attestation signed by the two witnesses but they didn't sign an actual notarized affidavit formalizing their testimony, then you might need to track down one or both witnesses and have them sign an affidavit.

See RCW 11.20.020<https://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=11.20&full=true#11.20.020> et seq.

Sincerely,

Eric

Eric C. Nelsen
Sayre Law Offices, PLLC
1417 31st Ave South
Seattle WA 98144-3909
206-625-0092
eric at sayrelawoffices.com<mailto:eric at sayrelawoffices.com>

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Timothy Lehr
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2026 10:38 AM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: [WSBAPT] Notarized Will required to admit to probate vs valid Will

All,

I have what is likely a dumb question, but have not came across this before. PC filed a Petition to admit decedent's Will and open probate, pro se. The Will was signed by two witnesses but not notarized. The court denied the petition and stated that the Will needs to be notarized and cannot be admitted.

My office always notarizes our Wills but I did not think that was required to admit a Will to probate. My research found that a Will does not need to be notarized to be a valid Will under RCW 11.12.020, but a notarized Will creates a self-proving Will. Does a Will need to be notarized to admit to probate or if not notarized, are there additional requirements to admit the un-notarized Will to probate?

Timothy C. Lehr
Attorney & Partner

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p: 360.855.0131
e: timothy at stileslaw.com<mailto:timothy at stileslaw.com>
w: http://www.stileslaw.com/<http://www.stileslaw.com/>

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