Knowledge & Resources
Wills and estate planning
What a will does, how to write one, and what your state requires for it to count.
We use privacy-friendly analytics to understand how the Will builder is used. No advertising, no session recording, and never any of your Will content. See our Privacy Policy.
Wills and estate planning
What a will does, how to write one, and what your state requires for it to count.
Vermont requires witnesses to sign in front of the testator and in front of each other, and its rule on gifts to a witness catches the witness's spouse.
A Vermont will must be in writing, signed in the presence of two or more credible witnesses by the testator, or in the testator's name by someone else in the testator's presence and at their express direction. The witnesses must then attest and subscribe the will in the presence of the testator and of each other. Everyone together, in one room. An older, widely repeated claim that Vermont requires three witnesses is out of date: the statute requires two.
14 V.S.A. § 5
No. Section 5 requires two credible witnesses, not a notary, and notarizing a Vermont will does not substitute for them.
14 V.S.A. § 5
Any beneficial gift in a Vermont will to a subscribing witness, or to the spouse of a subscribing witness, is voidable unless there are two other competent witnesses. Vermont is one of the states whose rule reaches the witness's spouse, so a married couple witnessing together is a particular trap. Use two witnesses who inherit nothing.
14 V.S.A. § 10
14 V.S.A. § 5 (Execution of will; requisites). Attested and subscribed by two or more credible witnesses 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 Vermont. Requirements change. Confirm the current rules for your state before you sign.
Answer a few plain questions and Legawyl writes the document, with Vermont’s signing instructions included. No account needed to start.
Create your free Will