Will and Trust Notarization
Serving Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Queen Creek and Apache Junction, Arizona
A will and a trust are signed differently, and the difference catches people out. One usually needs two witnesses and a notarized affidavit; the other usually needs the notary directly.
An Arizona will does not have to be notarized to be valid, but it is normally made self-proving by attaching an affidavit that the testator and both witnesses sign in front of a notary. That affidavit is what spares the witnesses from being tracked down and brought to court years later, which is the entire reason to bother with it.
A trust is signed by the person creating it and notarized directly. Alongside it there is usually a certification of trust — the short version a bank will accept instead of reading forty pages — and often a deed transferring a house into the trust, which is its own notarization and has to be recorded afterwards to mean anything.
Witnesses have to be adults with no interest in the estate. A beneficiary who witnesses a will creates exactly the argument the document was written to prevent. Two neighbours, two coworkers, or two friends are the usual solution, and it is worth lining them up before the appointment rather than knocking on doors during it.
Bring the whole packet. Trust signings frequently reveal a schedule of assets that nobody filled in, and a page left blank is a page a notary cannot notarize.
What to have ready
- Unexpired government photo ID for every signer and every witness
- Two witnesses with no stake in the estate
- The complete will, trust, certification and any deeds
- Instructions from the drafting attorney, if there are any
Who books this
- Families finalising a plan drafted by an attorney
- People signing a trust and funding it in one sitting
- Executors and successor trustees needing a certification of trust
Questions
- Does a will need to be notarized in Arizona?
- Not to be valid. It needs the testator's signature and two witnesses. The notary comes in for the self-proving affidavit, which is what keeps those witnesses out of a courtroom later — which is why nearly every attorney-drafted will has one.
- Can the notary act as one of my two witnesses?
- No, not where the notary is notarizing the witnesses' own signatures on a self-proving affidavit. Bring two disinterested adults.
- Do you record the deed that funds the trust?
- Recording is a separate step at the county recorder's office and is normally handled by the attorney or a title company. The notarization is the part that has to happen in person.
Will and Trust Notarization by city
Related services
- Estate planning documents — Notarization for the full estate planning packet at your kitchen table, your attorney's office, or wherever the family can gather.
- Power of attorney — Financial and health care powers of attorney, notarized where the signer is, with the witnesses Arizona requires.
- Real estate closings — Deeds, affidavits of property value, beneficiary deeds and full closing packets, signed where the parties are.