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.
Tennessee sets out its signing steps explicitly, and an interested witness forfeits whatever their gift exceeds their intestate share.
A Tennessee will other than a holographic or nuncupative one must be executed by the signature of the testator and of at least two witnesses. The testator must signify to the attesting witnesses that the instrument is their will, and then either sign it, acknowledge a signature already made, or have someone else sign it at their direction and in their presence.
Tenn. Code § 32-1-104
No. Section 32-1-104 requires the testator's signature and two witnesses, not a notary, and notarizing a Tennessee will does not replace them. A notary appears only in a separate self-proving affidavit.
Tenn. Code § 32-1-104
Any person competent as a witness generally may attest a Tennessee will, and no will is invalidated by being attested by an interested witness. But unless the will is also attested by two disinterested witnesses, the interested witness forfeits whatever their gift exceeds in value what they would have received had you died without a will, measured at the date of death.
Tenn. Code § 32-1-103
Tenn. Code Ann. § 32-1-104 (Will other than holographic or nuncupative -- Signatures). The attesting witnesses must sign in the presence of the testator and in the presence 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 Tennessee. Requirements change. Confirm the current rules for your state before you sign.
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