Knowledge & Resources
Wills and estate planning
What a will does, how to write one, and what your state requires for it to count.
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Wills and estate planning
What a will does, how to write one, and what your state requires for it to count.
Idaho follows the Uniform Probate Code, accepts handwritten wills, and imposes no penalty at all on a beneficiary who witnesses.
Except for holographic wills and the narrow cases the statute carves out, every Idaho will must be in writing, signed by the testator or in the testator's name by another person in the testator's presence and at their direction, and signed by at least two people who each witnessed either the signing or the testator's acknowledgment of the signature or of the will.
Idaho Code § 15-2-502
No. Section 15-2-502 requires two witnesses, not a notary, and notarizing an Idaho will does not replace them. A notary appears only in a separate self-proving affidavit.
Idaho Code § 15-2-502
Yes. A will that does not comply with the ordinary formalities is valid as a holographic will, witnessed or not, if the signature and the material provisions are in the handwriting of the testator.
Idaho Code § 15-2-503
Idaho imposes none. Any person eighteen or more years of age who is generally competent to be a witness may witness a will, and a will or any provision of it is not invalid because it was signed by an interested witness. The gift stands. Disinterested witnesses remain the better habit, because they remove an argument about influence rather than a rule.
Idaho Code § 15-2-505
Any emancipated minor, or any person eighteen or more years of age who is of sound mind, may make a will in Idaho.
Idaho Code § 15-2-501
Idaho Code § 15-2-502 (Execution of wills). In writing, signed by the testator (or in the testator's name by another in their presence and by their direction), and signed by at least two persons who each witnessed the signing or the acknowledgment.
Links last checked 2026-08-24.
We could not read this statute at its official source, so the summary above is provisional. Confirm it before relying on it.
This is general information about the law, not legal advice, and it has not been reviewed by an attorney licensed in Idaho. Requirements change. Confirm the current rules for your state before you sign.
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