How many witnesses does a North Dakota will need?

Two, unless the testator uses a notary instead. NDCC 30.1-08-02(1)(c) accepts a will signed by at least two individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after witnessing the testator sign or acknowledge the signature or the will. The same subdivision accepts, as the other option, a will acknowledged by the testator before a notary public or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments.

Can a North Dakota will be notarized instead of witnessed?

Yes. NDCC 30.1-08-02(1)(c)(2) lets the testator acknowledge the will before a notary public or another individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments, in place of two witnesses. If the will is later contested, NDCC 30.1-15-06(2) gives a notarized will that is not self-proved a rebuttable presumption that it was properly executed.

Is a handwritten will valid in North Dakota?

Yes, if the signature and the material portions of the document are in the testator's handwriting. NDCC 30.1-08-02(2) makes such a will valid as a holographic will whether or not it was witnessed, and NDCC 30.1-08-02(3) lets extrinsic evidence, including printed parts of the page, show that the testator meant it as a will. The older section 30.1-08-03 titled Holographic will was repealed in 1993.

Does North Dakota allow electronic wills?

Yes. The Uniform Electronic Wills Act, chapter 30.1-37 of the North Dakota Century Code, was created by 2021 House Bill 1077. Under NDCC 30.1-37-04 an electronic will must be a record readable as text when signed, signed by the testator or for the testator in the testator's conscious presence and by direction, and either signed by two witnesses or acknowledged before a notary.

Can a North Dakota court accept a will that missed a signing step?

North Dakota has no harmless error rule. Chapter 30.1-08 of the Century Code carries no counterpart to Uniform Probate Code section 2-503, the provision other states use to admit a defective will on clear and convincing evidence of intent. A will that fails NDCC 30.1-08-02 must qualify as a holographic will or under the choice-of-law rule in NDCC 30.1-08-06.

North Dakota Will Requirements

Q: What must someone holding a North Dakota will do after the death?

NDCC 30.1-11-02 says that after the testator's death, and on request of an interested person, the custodian shall deliver the will with reasonable promptness to a person able to secure its probate, or to an appropriate court if no such person is known. Willful failure makes the custodian liable for damages, and refusing after a court order is punishable as contempt.

A North Dakota will has to be in writing, signed by the testator or by someone else in the testator's name in the testator's conscious presence and at the testator's direction, and then either signed by two witnesses or acknowledged before a notary public. NDCC 30.1-08-02(1) sets those steps. North Dakota also accepts a handwritten will with no witnesses, and it has recognized electronic wills since 2021. It has no harmless error rule, so a will that misses a step gets no rescue on proof of intent alone.

These rules sit in Title 30.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, the state's version of the Uniform Probate Code. Every section quoted below was read on September 28, 2026, in the chapter files the North Dakota Legislative Council publishes at ndlegis.gov. The Council states that all statutory changes approved by the 69th Legislative Assembly in 2025 are reflected there.

Read this page as a planning map. It is general information about North Dakota law, not advice about your estate. A licensed North Dakota attorney should look at any plan that involves farmland or mineral interests, a blended family, or a dispute you can already see coming.

A valid will does not keep an estate out of court on its own. It names who inherits and who serves as personal representative, and the estate still moves through the district court described in the North Dakota probate guide. When no valid will exists, North Dakota intestate succession decides who takes, which is what happens without a will in plain terms.

Who Can Make a North Dakota Will

NDCC 30.1-08-01 is one sentence: "Any adult who is of sound mind may make a will." The Century Code defines the age separately. NDCC 14-10-02 says "All persons eighteen years of age and over are adults."

That is the whole capacity test in the statute. The code writes no longer definition of sound mind, so whether a person had capacity on the day they signed is a question a court answers if someone raises it. The self-proving affidavit in NDCC 30.1-08-04 has the testator swear that they are "18 years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence."

If a family expects a fight, NDCC 30.1-15-07 sets who carries the burden. The person offering the will must make prima facie proof of due execution, and the person contesting it must establish lack of testamentary intent or capacity, undue influence, fraud, duress, mistake, revocation, or another cause affecting validity. The deadlines and the process for those challenges are covered in North Dakota will contests.

What Makes a North Dakota Will Valid

NDCC 30.1-08-02(1) opens with exceptions for the holographic rule in subsection 2, the choice-of-law rule in 30.1-08-06, and the personal property list in 30.1-08-13. Outside those, a will must be:

In writing.
Signed by the testator, or in the testator's name by some other individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction.
Either witnessed or notarized. The will must be signed by at least two individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after witnessing the signing or the testator's acknowledgment of the signature or of the will, or it must be acknowledged by the testator before a notary public or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments.

Here is why the third step matters. Most states give you one route. North Dakota gives you two, and the testator picks one.

Route One: Two Witnesses

The witnesses do not have to watch the pen move. A witness qualifies by seeing the testator sign, or by seeing the testator acknowledge the signature or the will. A testator can sign alone, then later show the document to two people and confirm it.

The witnesses do not have to sign in one sitting. Each one signs "within a reasonable time" after witnessing. The section never requires the witnesses to sign in front of each other. Signing together is still the cleaner habit, because what counts as a reasonable time is something a judge decides years later.

Route Two: A Notary Instead of Witnesses

NDCC 30.1-08-02(1)(c)(2) accepts a will "Acknowledged by the testator before a notary public or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments." No witness has to sign. The testator appears before the notary and acknowledges the will, and the notary completes the acknowledgment.

The notary route changes how the will is proved later. NDCC 30.1-15-06 sets three rules for a contested case where execution is at issue:

How the will was signed	What happens if execution is contested	NDCC 30.1-15-06
Self-proved under 30.1-08-04	Complies without testimony from any attesting witness, unless there is evidence of fraud or forgery affecting the acknowledgment or affidavit	(1)
Notarized under 30.1-08-02(1)(c)(2), not self-proved	A rebuttable presumption that the will complies with the execution rules, on filing the will	(2)
Witnessed only, not notarized or self-proved	Testimony of at least one attesting witness is required if the witness is in North Dakota, competent, and able to testify; other evidence, including a witness affidavit, may also establish execution	(3)

An Interested Witness Does Not Void the Will

NDCC 30.1-08-05 has two subsections. Under (1), "Any person generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will." Under (2), neither the will nor any provision in it is invalid because an interested witness signed it.

So a daughter who signs as a witness to her father's will keeps her gift under it. The section sets no minimum witness age and no rule that a witness must take nothing. Two adults who inherit nothing still remove the easiest undue influence argument a disappointed relative can raise.

Handwritten Wills Are Valid in North Dakota

NDCC 30.1-08-02(2) says a will that does not comply with subsection 1 "is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and material portions of the document are in the testator's handwriting."

Three details decide whether a handwritten page qualifies:

The material portions must be handwritten. Who gets what has to be in the testator's own hand. Printed text can appear on the same page.
The signature must be handwritten. A typed name at the bottom does not meet the holographic test.
Intent still has to be shown. NDCC 30.1-08-02(3) lets intent that a document is the testator's will be established by extrinsic evidence, "including, for holographic wills, portions of the document that are not in the testator's handwriting." A printed form with the gifts filled in by hand can qualify on that reading.

The section asks for no witnesses, no notary and no date. That breadth is also why handwritten wills draw fights over handwriting, missing pages and loose wording.

One trap in the code itself: the chapter's section table still lists 30.1-08-03 under the caption "Holographic will." Its text reads, in full, "Repealed by S.L. 1993, ch. 334, § 50." The holographic rule lives in 30.1-08-02(2).

North Dakota Has No Harmless Error Rule

Some states let a court admit a document that missed a signing formality when clear and convincing evidence shows the decedent meant it as a will. That power comes from Uniform Probate Code section 2-503. North Dakota did not adopt it. Chapter 30.1-08 runs from 2-501 and 2-502 straight to 2-504, and no section anywhere in Title 30.1 carries the 2-503 number.

So a North Dakota will that fails 30.1-08-02 must fit one of three doors: the holographic rule in 30.1-08-02(2), the choice-of-law rule in 30.1-08-06, or, for an electronic will, chapter 30.1-37. If none fits, the document fails and the estate may pass by intestacy. The notary option makes this easier to avoid than in most states, since one trip to a notary satisfies step three.

Self-Proved Wills

NDCC 30.1-08-04 offers two ways to make a witnessed will self-proved. Under subsection 1, the will is executed, attested and made self-proved at one sitting, by the testator's acknowledgment and the witnesses' affidavits, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths and evidenced by the officer's certificate under official seal. Under subsection 2, a will already signed with attesting witnesses can be made self-proved at any later time. The section prints model wording for both.

Both subsections begin "A will that is executed with attesting witnesses." A will signed through the notary route alone is not a self-proved will under this section; its protection is the presumption in 30.1-15-06(2) described above.

NDCC 30.1-08-04(3) adds a safety net: "A signature affixed to a self-proving affidavit attached to a will is considered a signature affixed to the will, if necessary to prove the will's due execution."

The payoff arrives at probate. In an informal proceeding, NDCC 30.1-14-03(3) says a will that appears to have the required signatures and contains an attestation clause showing the requirements of 30.1-08-02 or 30.1-08-06 were met "must be probated without further proof." In other cases the court may assume execution if the will appears properly executed, or accept a sworn statement from anyone who knows the circumstances. In an uncontested formal case, NDCC 30.1-15-05 makes the affidavit or testimony of one attesting witness enough.

Electronic Wills Since 2021

North Dakota adopted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act as chapter 30.1-37, created by 2021 House Bill 1077 (Session Laws chapter 257). NDCC 30.1-37-02 says "An electronic will is a will for all purposes of the law of this state."

NDCC 30.1-37-04(1) mirrors the paper rule. An electronic will must be:

a record that is readable as text at the time of signing;
signed by the testator, or by another individual in the testator's name, in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction; and
either signed by at least two individuals who each signed within a reasonable time after witnessing the signing or acknowledgment, or acknowledged by the testator before a notary public or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments.

Three more rules in the chapter are worth knowing:

Self-proving works the same way. NDCC 30.1-37-06 lets an electronic will be executed, attested and made self-proving at once, before an officer authorized to administer oaths, with the officer's certificate affixed to or logically associated with the electronic will.
Revoking by physical act needs proof. Under NDCC 30.1-37-05(2)(b), a physical act revokes an electronic will only if it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that the testator performed it, or directed another individual who performed it in the testator's physical presence, with intent to revoke.
A paper copy can be certified. NDCC 30.1-37-07 lets an individual certify a paper copy by affirming under penalty of perjury that it is a complete, true and accurate copy. If the electronic will is self-proving, the copy must include the affidavits.

The chapter's definitions in 30.1-37-01 contain no term for remote or video witnessing. Read 30.1-37-04 closely before planning a signing where the witnesses are not in the room.

A Will Signed in Another State

NDCC 30.1-08-06 saves most documents that arrive with a move. A written will is valid if it complies with 30.1-08-02, or if its execution complies with the law, at the time of execution, of the place where it was signed, or of the place where the testator was domiciled, had a place of abode, or was a national, either when signing or at death.

A will signed in Minnesota under Minnesota rules does not need re-signing after a move to Fargo or Bismarck. For electronic wills, NDCC 30.1-37-03 applies a parallel rule keyed to where the testator was physically located, domiciled or residing.

Getting a Court Ruling While You Are Alive

North Dakota offers something most states do not. Under NDCC 30.1-08.1-01, a person who executes a will may bring a declaratory judgment proceeding under chapter 32-23 asking the court to declare the will valid as to the signature, the witnesses and their signatures, and the testator's testamentary capacity and freedom from undue influence.

NDCC 30.1-08.1-02 requires every beneficiary named in the will and all of the testator's present intestate successors to be named as parties. If the court finds the will valid, NDCC 30.1-08.1-03 says it "shall declare the will valid and order it placed on file with the court," and that finding counts as an adjudication of probate. The will stays binding unless the testator signs a new will and brings a new proceeding. This route makes sense mainly when a challenge is already foreseeable, because it notifies the very relatives who might object.

The Separate List for Personal Items

NDCC 30.1-08-13 lets a will refer to a written statement or list that disposes of items of tangible personal property, other than money, that the will does not already leave by a separate gift. To count, the list must be signed by the testator and describe the items and the devisees with reasonable certainty.

The list may be prepared before or after the will is signed and altered later. Guns, tools, jewelry and quilts can move around on a signed page without a new will each time.

Revoking or Changing a North Dakota Will

NDCC 30.1-08-07(1) gives two ways to revoke all or part of a will:

A later will that revokes the earlier one expressly or by inconsistency. Under 30.1-08-07(3), a later will that makes a complete disposition of the estate is presumed to replace the earlier one; under (4), a later will that does not is presumed to supplement it. Clear and convincing evidence rebuts either presumption.
A revocatory act, defined to include "burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying the will or any part of it," done by the testator with intent to revoke, or by another individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction.

NDCC 30.1-08-09 governs whether revoking a later will brings an earlier one back. The answer depends on how the later will was revoked and on the testator's intent, so the safest step is a fresh will.

Divorce Revokes Gifts to a Former Spouse

NDCC 30.1-08-08 says a change of circumstances does not revoke a will, except as provided in 30.1-10-03 and 30.1-10-04. Divorce is the big exception. Unless the will, a court order, or a property settlement contract says otherwise, NDCC 30.1-10-04(2) says a divorce or annulment revokes revocable gifts to the former spouse and to the former spouse's relatives, and revokes their nominations as personal representative, trustee, conservator, agent or guardian. The will reads as if the former spouse and those relatives had disclaimed, or, for a nomination, died just before the divorce.

A legal separation that does not end the marriage is not a divorce for this purpose (30.1-10-04(1)(b)), and under 30.1-10-04(5) remarrying the former spouse revives the revoked provisions. Marriage and the birth of a child do not revoke a will. Instead, NDCC 30.1-06-01 can give a spouse who married the testator after the will an intestate share of part of the estate, and NDCC 30.1-06-02 can give a share to a child born or adopted after the will was signed.

Storing the Will and Handing It Over

During life. NDCC 30.1-11-01 lets the testator or the testator's agent deposit a will with a recorder for safekeeping. The will is sealed and kept confidential, and during the testator's lifetime it goes only to the testator or a person the testator authorizes in a signed writing. After death, the recorder notifies any person designated to receive the will, and must deliver it to the appropriate court on the written request of an interested person, which must include the court's full address and a copy of the death certificate or obituary. The 2023 Legislature amended this section through Senate Bill 2381.

After death. NDCC 30.1-11-02 puts a duty on whoever holds the will. On request of an interested person, the custodian "shall deliver it with reasonable promptness to a person able to secure its probate," or to an appropriate court if no such person is known. A custodian who willfully fails to deliver it is liable for resulting damages, and one who refuses after a court order faces contempt.

Timing matters here. NDCC 30.1-12-08 generally bars starting an informal probate or a formal testacy proceeding more than three years after death, with listed exceptions. A will found in a drawer years later may arrive too late to be probated in the ordinary way.

Next Steps

A will is one of several documents in the rest of an estate plan, next to a durable power of attorney and a health care directive. It also does not avoid probate on its own; how to avoid probate in North Dakota explains which assets pass outside the will. If a will is already in dispute, start with how a will is challenged in North Dakota.

Sources:

Title: NDCC 30.1-08-01, Who may make a will. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c08.pdf#nameddest=30p1-08-01
Title: NDCC 30.1-08-02, Execution - Witnessed wills - Holographic wills. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c08.pdf#nameddest=30p1-08-02
Title: NDCC 30.1-08-03, Holographic will (repeal note). Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c08.pdf#nameddest=30p1-08-03
Title: NDCC 30.1-08-04, Self-proved will. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c08.pdf#nameddest=30p1-08-04
Title: NDCC 30.1-08-05, Who may witness. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c08.pdf#nameddest=30p1-08-05
Title: NDCC 30.1-08-06, Choice of law as to execution. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c08.pdf#nameddest=30p1-08-06
Title: NDCC 30.1-08-07, Revocation by writing or by act. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c08.pdf#nameddest=30p1-08-07
Title: NDCC 30.1-08-08, Revocation by change of circumstances. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c08.pdf#nameddest=30p1-08-08
Title: NDCC 30.1-08-09, Revival of revoked will. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c08.pdf#nameddest=30p1-08-09
Title: NDCC 30.1-08-13, Separate writing identifying devise of certain types of tangible personal property. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c08.pdf#nameddest=30p1-08-13
Title: NDCC 30.1-08.1-01, Declaratory judgment. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c08-1.pdf#nameddest=30p1-08p1-01
Title: NDCC 30.1-08.1-02, Parties - Process. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c08-1.pdf#nameddest=30p1-08p1-02
Title: NDCC 30.1-08.1-03, Finding of validity - Revocation. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c08-1.pdf#nameddest=30p1-08p1-03
Title: NDCC 30.1-06-01, Entitlement of spouse - Premarital will. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c06.pdf#nameddest=30p1-06-01
Title: NDCC 30.1-06-02, Omitted children. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c06.pdf#nameddest=30p1-06-02
Title: NDCC 30.1-10-04, Revocation of probate and nonprobate transfers by divorce - No revocation by other changes of circumstances. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c10.pdf#nameddest=30p1-10-04
Title: NDCC 30.1-11-01, Deposit of will in testator's lifetime. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c11.pdf#nameddest=30p1-11-01
Title: NDCC 30.1-11-02, Duty of custodian of will - Liability. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c11.pdf#nameddest=30p1-11-02
Title: NDCC 30.1-12-08, Probate, testacy, and appointment proceedings - Ultimate time limit. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c12.pdf#nameddest=30p1-12-08
Title: NDCC 30.1-14-03, Informal probate - Proof and findings required. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c14.pdf#nameddest=30p1-14-03
Title: NDCC 30.1-15-05, Formal testacy proceedings - Uncontested cases - Hearings and proof. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c15.pdf#nameddest=30p1-15-05
Title: NDCC 30.1-15-06, Formal testacy proceedings - Contested cases. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c15.pdf#nameddest=30p1-15-06
Title: NDCC 30.1-15-07, Formal testacy proceedings - Burdens in contested cases. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c15.pdf#nameddest=30p1-15-07
Title: NDCC 30.1-37-02, Law applicable to electronic will - Principles of equity. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c37.pdf#nameddest=30p1-37-02
Title: NDCC 30.1-37-04, Execution of electronic will. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c37.pdf#nameddest=30p1-37-04
Title: NDCC 30.1-37-05, Revocation. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c37.pdf#nameddest=30p1-37-05
Title: NDCC 30.1-37-06, Electronic will attested and made self-proving at time of execution. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c37.pdf#nameddest=30p1-37-06
Title: NDCC 30.1-37-07, Certification of paper copy. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c37.pdf#nameddest=30p1-37-07
Title: NDCC 14-10-02, Adults defined. Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Council, North Dakota Century Code. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t14c10.pdf#nameddest=14-10-02
Title: 2021 House Bill 1077, Uniform Electronic Wills Act (Session Laws chapter 257). Publisher: North Dakota Legislative Assembly. Publication Date: 2021. URL: https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/67-2021/regular/bill-overview/bo1077.html

It is not legal advice.