NH · Will guide
New Hampshire will requirements (two witnesses, at your request, in your presence)
You're going to die. The will you have been meaning to sign since the last town meeting is not signed because the granite is patient and you were not. RSA 551:2 will not finish it for you.
Paragraphs I and II are the ceremony this product walks. The will is in writing. You sign it, or some person signs at your express direction in your presence. Two or more credible witnesses sign. At your request, and in your presence, they attest to your signature. No seal.
A later paragraph can deem someone "in your presence" through simultaneous sight and sound. This page does not walk that path. The statute says nothing in that paragraph shall be deemed to allow an electronic will or codicil. Do not say New Hampshire allows electronic wills.
The short version
How to sign a will in New Hampshire
Product path is RSA 551:2, I and II. Paper. The witnesses are in the testator's presence under that validity rule, not under paragraph III.
- Put the will or codicil in writing. Paragraph I(a) says the testator must qualify under RSA 551:1. That section was not fetched. This page does not describe it.
- Sign it, or have some person sign at your express direction in your presence.
- Two or more credible witnesses sign. At your request, and in your presence, they attest to your signature.
- Do not hunt for a seal. "No seal shall be required."
"Attest to the testator's signature" is the act. Do not swap in a different state's menu where a witness may instead hear an acknowledgment of the will and skip the signature. Do not add each-other presence. The self-prove oath says each witness signed in the presence of the other witness. That oath is 551:2-a. It is not 551:2. Paragraph III says a witness shall be deemed in the presence of the testator if the witness, the testator, the other witnesses, and a defined notarial officer can communicate simultaneously by sight and sound through an electronic device or process. The officer is a defined New Hampshire attorney, another New Hampshire attorney under that attorney's supervision, or a paralegal under either's supervision. This page does not teach how to run that signing. It is out of scope. Quote the limit and stop: "Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to allow an electronic will or codicil." Do not say New Hampshire allows electronic wills. Do not write a remote-signing ceremony. A handwritten page is still a writing under paragraph I. It still needs the two witnesses. There is no holographic sentence in 551:2.
New Hampshire will witnesses
Two or more credible witnesses. They sign at the testator's request, in the testator's presence, and they attest to the testator's signature. That is the validity count.
RSA 551:3 uses a word you should not silently "fix." "Any beneficial device or legacy made or given in a will to a subscribing witness thereto or to the wife or husband of such a witness shall be void unless there be 2 other subscribing witnesses," and that witness is still competent. The official word is device. This page does not replace it with devise. It also does not guess that device or legacy means every possible transfer. If the thing you are worried about is not a device or a legacy in the ordinary sense of those words, ask a New Hampshire lawyer. Do not broaden the pair by guesswork.
"2 other" is the void-gift condition. It does not change the validity count under 551:2. Two credible witnesses can make a valid will. A beneficial device or legacy to one of them fails the "2 other" test.
"A provision therein for the payment of a debt shall not be void nor disqualify the creditor as a witness." A debt provision is not void. Do not treat a creditor the way you treat a device or legacy to a witness.
Prefer two people who take no device or legacy.
Does a New Hampshire will need to be notarized
For validity under 551:2: no. No seal.
551:2-a, I: to be self-proved, the signatures of the testator and the witnesses are followed by a sworn acknowledgment before a notary public, a justice of the peace, or another official authorized to administer oaths in the place of execution. The oath includes this line: "Each witness signed at the request of the testator, in the testator's presence, and in the presence of the other witness."
That each-other line is the self-prove form. Do not add it to the paper ceremony in 551:2. Self-proof does not replace the two witnesses, and it does not add a seal to a statute that says no seal is required.
551:2-a, II: "Any will meeting the requirements of RSA 551-A shall also qualify as self-proved." RSA 551-A was not fetched. This page does not describe it. Do not guess what that chapter contains, and do not build a ceremony out of the cross-reference.
New Hampshire will mistakes that hurt later
- Teaching RSA 551:2, III as the product ceremony. Deemed presence by sight and sound is out of scope. The statute says nothing in that paragraph shall be deemed to allow an electronic will or codicil. Do not say New Hampshire allows electronic wills. Do not write a remote-signing ceremony.
- Teaching each-other presence as a validity rule because 551:2-a says it. The form recites the other witness. RSA 551:2 does not.
- Requiring a seal. Paragraph II says no seal shall be required.
- Changing "device" to "devise," or teaching a higher validity count. The word in 551:3 is device. "2 other" subscribing witnesses is the void-gift condition. Validity stays two or more. Do not broaden device or legacy by guesswork. A debt provision is not void.
- Describing RSA 551-A. The cross-reference in 551:2-a, II was not opened. This page does not describe that chapter.
- A holographic yes. 551:2 has no holographic sentence. A handwritten will still needs two witnesses.
Are holographic wills valid in New Hampshire
Not as a New Hampshire shortcut. RSA 551:2 has no holographic sentence. A handwritten will is still a writing, and it still has to be signed and attested by two or more credible witnesses under paragraph I. Do not import a wholly handwritten exception from West Virginia or Kentucky. Do not import Nebraska's dated holograph or Idaho's material-provisions holograph. Killswitch prints the witnessed path.
How Killswitch helps with a New Hampshire will
Killswitch drafts the will and prints RSA 551:2, I and II: writing, your signature or a person signing at your express direction in your presence, and two or more credible witnesses who, at your request and in your presence, attest to your signature. No seal. The 551:2-a each-other line stays in the self-prove form. The statute's word device stays in the 551:3 warning, and a debt provision is called out as not void. Paragraph III is not the ceremony. RSA 551-A is not described.
Free to write and read. Pay once for the finished copy. You still run 551:2, I and II. 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.
Check signing requirements by state · Full New Hampshire estate planning hub
Frequently asked questions
How many witnesses does a New Hampshire will need
Two or more credible witnesses. At the testator's request and in the testator's presence, they attest to the testator's signature (RSA 551:2, I). No seal is required. They do not have to sign in each other's presence for validity. The self-prove form recites the other witness. That recital is 551:2-a, not 551:2.
Does a will need to be notarized in New Hampshire
No. RSA 551:2, II says no seal shall be required. A notary, justice of the peace, or other oath officer appears only if you want the optional self-proving acknowledgment in 551:2-a. The form's each-other line is not the validity rule.
Can a beneficiary witness a New Hampshire will
A beneficial device or legacy to a subscribing witness, or to that witness's wife or husband, is void unless there are 2 other subscribing witnesses (RSA 551:3). The statute says device. This page does not change the word and does not broaden device or legacy by guesswork. The witness stays competent. A provision for payment of a debt is not void and does not disqualify the creditor. The validity count stays two or more.
Are holographic wills valid in New Hampshire
RSA 551:2 has no holographic sentence. A handwritten will still needs two or more credible witnesses who attest to the testator's signature. Do not import another state's unwitnessed handwriting rule.
Does New Hampshire allow a remote or electronic will on this page
This page does not teach one. Paragraph III of RSA 551:2 can deem a witness to be in the testator's presence through simultaneous sight and sound with a defined notarial officer. That path is out of scope. The statute says nothing in that paragraph shall be deemed to allow an electronic will or codicil. Do not say New Hampshire allows electronic wills.
What is a New Hampshire self-proving will
An optional sworn acknowledgment under RSA 551:2-a, after the testator and the witnesses sign, before a notary, justice of the peace, or other oath officer in the place of execution. The oath recites that each witness signed in the presence of the other witness. That is the form. RSA 551:2-a also points at RSA 551-A. That chapter was not fetched, and this page does not describe it.
Sources
NH will
Start your New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire 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.
