Public notaries hold a degree of authority. They undergo a background check to prove they have no felony convictions or convictions related to crimes of moral turpitude. They must pay a fee to the state and obtain a notary surety bond from a business to have the authority to authenticate people’s identities and the validity of legal paperwork.
Many critical documents require notarization to be valid and enforceable. People signing mortgage notes and deeds often require the services of a notary, who reviews their identification and then affixes their seal to the documents.
Wills are among the most valuable and important legal documents people may ever draft. Does Texas require that testators secure notarization for a will to be valid?
A notary’s stamp is not necessary
While notarization certainly helps authenticate a document, it is not strictly necessary when signing a will. Texas does impose several key baseline requirements for wills.
The testator generally needs to sign the document themselves or instruct an agent to sign on their behalf if they cannot physically sign. They also need to have two witnesses who are at least 14 years old sign the document.
Those witnesses help validate the identity of the testator and can later serve to affirm their mental capacity at the time of the document signing. While a notary can serve as a witness to a will, hiring one is not a requirement.
Testators who sign a document drafted by a lawyer can feel confident that their wills meet all standards imposed by Texas state law. Working with a professional is important whenever creating or updating estate planning documents, given all that is at stake.
