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.
Iowa is one of the few states that requires you to declare out loud that the document is your will, and to ask the witnesses to sign.
An Iowa will must be in writing and signed by the testator, or by someone in the testator's presence writing the testator's name at their express direction. The testator must declare it to be their will, and it must be witnessed at the testator's request by two competent people who sign as witnesses. The declaring and the requesting are part of the statute, not merely custom.
Iowa Code § 633.279
No. Section 633.279 requires two competent witnesses, not a notary, and notarizing an Iowa will does not substitute for them. A notary appears only in a separate self-proving affidavit.
Iowa Code § 633.279
Iowa Code § 633.279 (Signed and witnessed). In writing, signed by the testator (or by another in their presence and at their express direction), declared by the testator to be their will, and witnessed at the testator's request by two competent persons who sign in the presence of the testator and of each other.
Links last checked 2026-08-25.
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 Iowa. Requirements change. Confirm the current rules for your state before you sign.
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