Does a will have to be notarized in Virginia?

No. Virginia Code section 64.2-403 requires a will to be in writing and signed by the testator, and for a will that is not entirely handwritten, subscribed by 2 competent witnesses present at the same time. Notarization is not a condition of validity.

What does notarizing a will actually do in Virginia?

It makes the will self-proving under section 64.2-452. The testator acknowledges the will and the witnesses give affidavits before the notary, and the court then accepts those affidavits as if the witnesses had testified in person.

Who has to be present to make a Virginia will self-proving?

The testator and both attesting witnesses have to appear before the notary. That is 3 people plus the notary, and it is the part families most often fail to arrange.

Can the notary be one of the witnesses to the will?

No. The notary administers the oath and certifies the affidavits, which is a separate role from being an attesting witness. You need 2 witnesses in addition to the notary.

How to Get a Will Notarized in Virginia

Here is the short answer, and it is not the one most people expect. A Virginia will does not need a notary to be valid. Section 64.2-403 of the Code of Virginia says a will has to be in writing and signed by the testator, and if it is not entirely in the testator's own handwriting, subscribed by 2 competent witnesses who are present at the same time. Notarization is not in that list.

What the notary does is make the will self-proving, and that is worth real money and months of your family's time later. Here is the difference.

What actually makes a Virginia will valid

It is in writing and signed by the testator, or signed by somebody else in the testator's presence at the testator's direction.
If it is not entirely handwritten, 2 competent witnesses have to be present at the same time and subscribe the will in the testator's presence.
If it is entirely in the testator's handwriting, it is valid without witnesses, but the handwriting and signature then have to be proved by at least 2 disinterested witnesses later.

Notice that a notary is not required in any of those 3 paths. Anybody telling you an unnotarized Virginia will is void is wrong.

So what is the notary actually for?

Section 64.2-452 lets a will be made self-proved by the acknowledgment of the testator and the affidavits of the attesting witnesses, taken before an officer authorized to administer oaths. A notary is that officer.

Here is why it matters. Without the self-proving affidavit, when the will goes to probate the court generally wants to hear from the witnesses. Years may have passed. Witnesses move, forget, or die. Somebody has to find them and get them in front of the clerk.

With it, the statute says the affidavits are accepted by the court as if the testimony had been given in person. Your family walks in with the will and walks out. That is the entire product, and it is why we treat a will as a notarize-it document even though the law does not force it.

Who has to be in the room

This is where families get caught. Making a will self-proving takes 4 people: the testator, both attesting witnesses, and the notary.

The notary cannot be one of the 2 witnesses. Those are separate jobs, and the notary is doing the one that certifies the other. So line up 2 witnesses before the appointment, and pick them carefully:

Not a beneficiary, and ideally nobody who gains anything at all.
Competent adults who can be found again if anything is ever questioned.
Not the notary, and not the notary's spouse, because section 47.1-30 rules that out entirely. The narrower version of that rule is in whether a notary can notarize for family.

At a hospital or a facility, this is the step that stalls appointments, because staff often cannot serve as witnesses under policy. Our post on hospital notaries covers how to plan around that.

What a notary cannot do with your will

A notary cannot draft it, fill it in, tell you what to put in it, or tell you whether the one you downloaded is any good. Section 47.1-15 says a nonattorney notary shall not assist another person in drafting, completing, selecting, or understanding a document requiring a notarial act. Those questions go to an attorney, every time.

A notary also cannot decide whether the testator is competent in the legal sense. What a notary can and must do is stop if the signer does not appear to know what they are signing or is not doing it willingly. Our page on what a Virginia notary cannot do lays out the rest of the line.

Where wills go wrong in practice

Signed before anyone arrives. The acknowledgment and the affidavits happen in front of the notary. This is the same trap as a power of attorney signed too early.
Only 1 witness available. The statute says 2, present at the same time. One does not become 2 later.
A witness who inherits. Legal in some situations, but it hands a future challenger an argument. Use neutral witnesses.
The self-proving page is missing. The affidavit wording has to actually be on the document. If your form does not have it, that is a question for the attorney who drafted it, not for the notary at the table.
Expired ID. Everyone signing needs current identification, which is on the short list in what you need to get anything notarized.

What to have ready

The complete will with signature lines blank, the testator, 2 neutral witnesses, current photo ID for everybody signing, and a table everyone can reach. If the signing is at a home, a hospital, or a care facility, that is what a mobile notary exists for. The cost side is the same statute as every other visit, explained in what a notary costs in Virginia.

Wills are usually signed alongside a power of attorney and an advance directive, and the 3 documents have 3 different rules. It is worth knowing which is which before the appointment, not during it.

Signing a will in Suffolk or Hampton Roads? Tell us how many people are signing and where on the booking page, or read how our estate and hospital signings are run.