No, a will does not have to be notarized in Maryland to be legally valid. Under Maryland law, a will is enforceable if it is in writing, signed by you, and signed by two credible witnesses who watched you sign or acknowledge your signature.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Estates and Trusts 4-102 – Writing; Signature; Attestation A notary has no role in that basic execution. Notarization only becomes part of the picture in two situations: when you choose to add an optional self-proving affidavit that speeds up probate, and when you execute the will electronically or with remote witnesses, where a notarized affidavit is mandatory.
What Maryland Actually Requires
Section 4-102 of the Maryland Estates and Trusts Code sets three requirements for a valid will, and none of them involve a notary.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Estates and Trusts 4-102 – Writing; Signature; Attestation
- The will must be in writing. Maryland does not recognize oral wills.
- You must sign the will yourself. If you physically cannot, someone else may sign for you, but only in your presence and at your direction.
- Two or more credible witnesses must watch you sign (or acknowledge your signature) and then sign the will themselves in your presence.
You also have to be at least 18 and legally competent, meaning you understand what property you own, who your family and beneficiaries are, and what your will does with your assets. These rules apply whether the document is typed, printed, or handwritten. Meet them, and the will is valid. A notary stamp adds nothing to that.
The Self-Proving Affidavit: Optional but Useful
Even though Maryland does not require notarization, most estate planners recommend attaching a self-proving affidavit to your will, and that document does have to be notarized. The affidavit is a sworn statement, signed by you and your witnesses in front of a notary, confirming that everyone followed the legal formalities when the will was signed.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Estates and Trusts 4-102 – Writing; Signature; Attestation
The payoff comes during probate. When the court sees a will with a self-proving affidavit attached, it accepts the will as properly executed on its face. Without one, your executor may have to locate the original witnesses and get them to confirm the signing, which can be genuinely difficult years later. Witnesses move. They lose capacity. They die. The affidavit costs nothing extra at the time of signing and can save your family significant time and expense.
So the fuller answer to the notarization question is this: your will itself does not need to be notarized, but if you want to add the affidavit that most attorneys consider standard practice, a notary signs that piece.
Electronic and Remote Wills: Notarization Required
Since October 2021, Maryland has allowed wills to be witnessed remotely over live audio-visual technology and signed electronically. Maryland law defines “electronic presence” as real-time audio-visual communication equivalent to being physically together, and the entire process must be supervised by a licensed Maryland attorney.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Estates and Trusts 4-101
For these wills, the self-proving affidavit is not optional. A notarized affidavit is a mandatory part of execution. The testator and witnesses swear before the notary (who can also participate remotely) that all formalities were followed.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Estates and Trusts 4-102 – Writing; Signature; Attestation
If you are executing your will electronically, then, the answer flips: yes, notarization is required. The extra layer exists because remote signings are harder to police for fraud or coercion than an in-person meeting, and the notarized affidavit provides a check built into the process.
Who Can Serve as a Witness
Because witnesses do the work in Maryland that a notary might do elsewhere, choosing them carefully matters. The Maryland Register of Wills interprets “credible” to mean at least 18 years old and legally competent.3Register of Wills. Facts About Wills Witnesses need to understand what they are observing and be able to confirm later that they watched you sign.
A beneficiary named in the will can technically serve as a witness, and doing so will not by itself invalidate the will. But it creates a conflict of interest that opens the door to challenges. If the will is contested and that witness’s testimony is needed to prove proper execution, the witness-beneficiary risks forfeiting any inheritance beyond what they would have received under Maryland’s intestacy rules. Use two people with no financial interest in your estate. Neighbors, coworkers, or friends who are not named in the will all work.
Wills Signed Outside Maryland
People sometimes move to Maryland with a will that was notarized in a state where notarization mattered more, and worry that a Maryland court will reject it. Generally, it will not. A will signed while you were physically outside Maryland is valid here as long as it was in writing, signed by you (or by someone at your direction in your presence), and executed under any one of three legal standards: Maryland’s requirements, the law of your home state at the time, or the law of wherever you were physically located when you signed.4Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Estates and Trusts 4-104
That said, features that worked in another state may not fit Maryland probate procedures cleanly. Another state may accept a single witness, or use a self-proving affidavit that Maryland courts do not recognize the same way. If you moved to Maryland with an existing will, having an attorney review it is worthwhile, even if the document is technically valid.
The Bottom Line
For a traditional will signed in a room with two witnesses, notarization is not required in Maryland and never has been. If you want the practical benefit of a self-proving affidavit at probate, you will use a notary for that add-on, not for the will itself. And if you are signing an electronic or remotely witnessed will under Maryland’s 2021 rules, a notarized affidavit is built into the process and is not something you can skip. Everything else comes down to two competent witnesses and your own signature.