AL · Will guide
Alabama will requirements (two witnesses, signing or acknowledgment)
You're going to die. If you never sign a will, Alabama's intestacy rules already picked an ending for the house and the accounts. A will is how you replace that ending.
Ala. Code §43-8-131 is the ceremony this product walks. The will is in writing. You sign it, or another person signs your name in your presence and by your direction. At least two people sign, and each of them witnessed either the signing or your acknowledgment of the signature or of the will.
They do not have to watch each other sign. The section has no holographic paragraph. It also has no harmless-error escape hatch, so a Minnesota checklist that mentions March 13, 2020 does not belong on an Alabama kitchen table. If a witness is also a beneficiary, §43-8-134 says the will and its provisions are not invalid for that reason. Massachusetts left that question thinner. Alabama wrote it down.
The short version
How to sign a will in Alabama
Product path is §43-8-131.
- Put the will in writing. Typed is fine. The section does not say you must sign at the end.
- Sign it yourself, or have another person sign your name in your presence and by your direction.
- At least two people sign. Each of them witnessed the signing, or your acknowledgment of the signature, or your acknowledgment of the will.
The section does not say the witnesses sign in each other's presence. Do not import Kentucky or Indiana for that. It also does not say they may sign within a reasonable time. That timing sentence is Utah, not Alabama. Have them there for the act they witnessed, and have them sign. The self-proving form under §43-8-132 says each witness signs "in the presence and hearing of the testator." That line lives in the affidavit. A will can be valid with no officer and no seal. Section 43-8-135, the "except as provided" clause, is choice of law. It is not a second Birmingham ceremony. Electronic and remote signing: out of scope.
Alabama will witnesses
Section 43-8-134(a): any person generally competent to be a witness may witness a will. Section 43-8-134(b): a will or any provision is not invalid because an interested witness signed. Alabama does not forfeit the gift, cap it at an intestate share, or demand two extra disinterested witnesses. Do not add a purge the statute refused to write.
Prefer two people who take nothing. A beneficiary with a pen is still a contest fact. The two witnesses do not have to watch each other sign. Each one does have to witness the signing or the acknowledgment.
Does an Alabama will need to be notarized
For validity under §43-8-131: no.
Self-proving under §43-8-132 is optional. Subsection (a) is the same-day acknowledgment and witness affidavits before an oath officer, with a certificate under official seal. Subsection (b) is the later version, attached or annexed. The officer is whoever may administer oaths where that step happens.
Subsection (c): if the will is self-proved, signature compliance is conclusively presumed. Other execution requirements are presumed, subject to rebuttal, without witness testimony. The will is probated without further proof unless fraud or forgery affects the acknowledgment or affidavit. Self-proof does not erase the two witnesses. Section 43-8-133 only points back at 132.
Alabama will mistakes that hurt later
- Pasting a Massachusetts or Minnesota page and changing the state name. Alabama's execution section is in the same family as other acknowledgment statutes. The differences that matter here are on the page: §43-8-134's non-purge, and the absence of a harmless-error section. Do not borrow Minnesota §524.2-503 or its March 13, 2020 date.
- Teaching a holographic yes. Section 43-8-131 has no holographic subsection. A handwritten page with no witnesses fails it.
- Treating the self-prove form's "presence and hearing" line as the validity rule. That recital belongs to §43-8-132.
- Inventing an interested-witness purge. The fetched statute says the will or any provision is not invalid because an interested witness signed.
- Requiring the witnesses to sign in each other's presence, or requiring you to sign at the end. Neither command is in §43-8-131.
Are holographic wills valid in Alabama
Not as an Alabama shortcut. Unwitnessed handwriting fails §43-8-131. Section 43-8-135 can recognize a written will that complied with the law of the place of execution, or of the place where at execution or at death the testator was domiciled, had a place of abode, or was a national. That is choice of law, not a handwriting product. Killswitch prints the witnessed path, with optional §43-8-132.
How Killswitch helps with an Alabama will
Killswitch drafts the will and prints §43-8-131 instructions: writing, your signature or a directed proxy in your presence, and two witnesses who saw the signing or heard the acknowledgment. No each-other rule. No holographic shortcut. Section 43-8-134 is stated as a non-purge.
Free to write and read. Pay once for the finished copy. You still run §43-8-131. We do not notarize. We are not your lawyer.
Free to write and read. Pay once for the finished copy. Signing instructions for your state print on the document.
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Frequently asked questions
How many witnesses does an Alabama will need
At least two. Each must have witnessed the signing or the testator's acknowledgment of the signature or of the will (Ala. Code §43-8-131). They do not have to sign in each other's presence, and the section does not say "at the end."
Does a will need to be notarized in Alabama
No. A notary is not required under §43-8-131. An oath officer is used only for the optional self-proving certificate in §43-8-132. The form's "presence and hearing" line is the affidavit. If the will is self-proved, signature compliance is conclusively presumed and other execution requirements are presumed subject to rebuttal, unless fraud or forgery affects the acknowledgment or affidavit.
Can a beneficiary witness an Alabama will
A generally competent person may witness, and the will or any provision is not invalid because an interested witness signed (§43-8-134). Alabama does not purge the gift.
Are holographic wills valid in Alabama
Section 43-8-131 has no holographic subsection. Unwitnessed handwriting fails it. Section 43-8-135 is choice of law, not a handwriting ceremony.
Does Alabama have a harmless-error will
Not in the execution sections that govern this page. Do not import Minnesota's clear-and-convincing rule or its March 13, 2020 date.
What is an Alabama self-proving will
An optional §43-8-132 certificate, at signing or later, before an oath officer, with a sealed form. It does not replace the two witnesses.
Sources
- Ala. Code §43-8-131 (execution; witnesses)
- Ala. Code §43-8-132 (self-proved will, including subsection (c))
- Ala. Code §43-8-133 (pointer back to §43-8-132)
- Ala. Code §43-8-134 (who may witness; interested witness)
- Ala. Code §43-8-135 (choice of law)
- Killswitch Terms
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Start your Alabama will in plain English.
Free to write and read. Pay once for the finished copy. Signing instructions for your state print on the document.
Killswitch is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. This page is educational information about Alabama statutes, not advice about your situation. Laws change. Read the cited sources and talk to a licensed attorney if your estate is complicated (business, trust, fight already in progress, or anything that already has lawyers in it). We put signing instructions on your document in plain English. You still have to follow your state's rules when you sign.
