No, a will does not have to be notarized in Indiana. Notarization plays no mandatory role at any stage of creating or proving a will under state law. A written will that is signed by you and two witnesses is valid, and even the optional clause that speeds up probate can be signed under penalty of perjury instead of in front of a notary.
What Indiana Actually Requires
Indiana Code § 29-1-5-3 sets out the formalities. Your will must be in writing. In front of at least two attesting witnesses, you have to indicate that the document is your will and then sign it, acknowledge a signature already on it, or direct someone else to sign for you while you are present. Both witnesses then sign the will in your presence and in each other’s presence.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 29-1-5-3 – Signatures; Counterpart; Video
That’s the whole checklist for a valid will. No notary. The statute even says explicitly that an attestation or self-proving clause is not required for the will to be valid.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 29-1-5-3 – Signatures; Counterpart; Video
Handwriting versus typing makes no difference. Whether you type your will or write it out by hand, you still need two witnesses who sign in your presence. Indiana does not recognize unwitnessed handwritten wills the way some other states do. A page in your own handwriting that lists your wishes and carries only your signature will not be accepted by the probate court.
The Self-Proving Clause and Why Indiana Skips the Notary
Most people who ask about notarizing a will are really asking about a self-proving clause, because in most states that clause has to be signed before a notary. Indiana is different.
A self-proving clause is an optional addition that removes the need for your witnesses to appear in court during probate. Without one, the probate court usually needs your witnesses to confirm they saw you sign. If years have passed by the time you die, tracking those people down can be difficult or impossible. A self-proving clause avoids that step because you and the witnesses have already sworn, in writing, that the will was properly executed.
Indiana changed its law in 2003. Under Indiana Code § 29-1-5-3.1, you can make your will self-proving by attaching a clause in which the testator and witnesses sign under penalty of perjury. No notary is needed.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 29-1-5-3.1 – Self-Proving Clause
The clause must state, in substance, that you identified the document as your will, signed it voluntarily, were of sound mind, and were at least 18 (or serving in the military). Each witness must confirm they signed in your presence and in each other’s presence.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 29-1-5-3.1 – Self-Proving Clause
You can include the clause when you first sign the will or add it later. If you add it later, you and the witnesses sign the new clause, but the will itself does not need to be re-executed.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 29-1-5-3.1 – Self-Proving Clause
If you prefer to have a notary involved anyway, nothing in Indiana law stops you. A notarized will is still valid; the notary’s seal simply adds nothing that the sworn self-proving clause does not already provide.
Choose Your Witnesses Carefully
Since witnesses do the work a notary would do in other states, who you pick matters. Ideally, your witnesses should be people who inherit nothing under the will.
Indiana law does not ban a beneficiary from serving as a witness, but it creates a real risk. If the will cannot be proved without that witness’s testimony, the gift to that witness is voided. The witness then receives only what they would have gotten under intestacy, capped at the value of the voided gift.3Justia. Indiana Code Title 29, Article 1, Chapter 5 – Wills
In practice, a beneficiary who serves as a witness could lose the entire inheritance the will was meant to give them if the other witness cannot be found or has died by the time probate opens. Two disinterested adult witnesses avoids the whole problem.
The witnesses must be present together with you when everyone signs. Signatures collected separately, or witnesses who signed after leaving the room, invite a challenge later.
Where to Keep the Signed Will
Once your will is signed and witnessed, it needs to be somewhere your executor can actually get to it. Indiana lets you deposit your will with the circuit court clerk in the county where you lived when you signed it. The clerk charges a $25 fee, seals the will in an envelope in your presence, and labels it with your name, the depositor’s name, and the date.4Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 29-1-7-3.1 – Will Depository
A deposited will is not a public record. During your lifetime, only you or someone you have authorized in writing can retrieve it. After your death, the clerk delivers it to the court handling your estate. If the clerk never receives notice of your death, the will can be destroyed after 100 years.4Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 29-1-7-3.1 – Will Depository
The clerk’s office is only one option. A fireproof safe at home works. So does leaving the original with the attorney who drafted it. What matters is that a trusted person knows where the original is. A perfectly valid, self-proving will locked in a safe deposit box nobody else can access defeats the point.
One Boundary: Oral Wills
Everything above assumes a written will, which is what nearly everyone means by “a will.” Indiana does recognize oral wills, but only in very narrow circumstances. The person making one has to be in immediate danger of dying and must actually die from that peril. Oral wills are also capped at $1,000 of personal property in ordinary cases, and $10,000 for active military or merchant marine members during wartime. One of the two witnesses has to reduce the statement to writing within 30 days, and it must be submitted for probate within six months of death.5Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 29-1-5-4 – Nuncupative Will; Requisites; Limitations
If you are planning your estate rather than reacting to a medical emergency, an oral will is not a route to consider. Sign a written will with two disinterested witnesses, add the self-proving clause under penalty of perjury, and put the original somewhere your executor can find it. That is all Indiana asks.