Indiana Will Signing Day Kit: Indiana's Witness and Notary Rules, Signing-Day Checklist, Witness Sheet and Original-Will Record

Who it is for

Anyone signing a will in Indiana, and the family member, friend or office helping set up the signing. Who can make a will, per the official page: 18 or older, of sound mind; a younger person serving in the U.S. armed forces, the merchant marine or an allied force may also make a will (IC 29-1-5-1, FindLaw code text current as of January 1, 2026).

Not the right fit if

The person signing isn't in Indiana, you still need the will written (that's a lawyer's job), or someone may contest it. Not a will form or a legal service.

Why it is different

• Built only from our Indiana will signing data file, checked November 2026 against Legislative Update: Probate and property matters, May 14, 2021 (Indiana Office of Court Services); Wills (trial court publication, Indiana Office of Court Services); Order 20S-MS-237, Emergency Procedures for the Witnessing of Wills (Indiana Supreme Court, 2020); Nolo (secondary source): How to Make a Will in Indiana (Nolo); FindLaw Codes (secondary source): IC 29-1-5-1 (FindLaw Codes, current as of January 1, 2026).
• All 7 Indiana facts are confirmed: on an official page, or where none could be read, on a vetted secondary source marked as such.
• Also from the file: A living person can deposit a will with the circuit court clerk in the county where the testator lived when it was signed, for a $25 fee (IC 29-1-7-3.1).
• For the estate side in Indiana, the Indiana Executor and Estate Kit: The gross probate estate, less liens, encumbrances and reasonable funeral expenses: $100,000 for deaths after June 30, 2022; $50,000 for deaths from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2022; $25,000 before. The affidavit isn't available for real estate; title can pass by recording a passage of title (or devolution) affidavit with the county recorder (Nolo's summary).

What is inside

• Start here. The 7 confirmed Indiana facts at a glance.
• Indiana signing-day checklist. Bring 2 witnesses. The rule: Two attesting witnesses, physically present with the testator, per the Indiana Supreme Court's 2020 order on witnessing wills (citing IC 29-1-5 and 29-1-21). Pick witnesses who get nothing under the will and aren't married to someone who does. If a beneficiary would have to witness, stop and call the lawyer first: A witness who inherits risks forfeiting the gift (Nolo, citing Ind. Code 29-1-5-2). The statute we read doesn't say who takes the affidavit. Ask the lawyer whether to have a notary there. A self-proving clause may be built into or attached to a will (2021 law). The summary we read doesn't say who takes it. The rule here: A witness who inherits risks forfeiting the gift (Nolo, citing Ind. Code 29-1-5-2). The testator signs (or acknowledges the signature) while the witnesses watch, then each witness signs.
• Witness information sheet. One block per Indiana witness (2 required, plus a spare).
• Original-will storage and location record. Where the original is and who has copies. Handwritten wills in Indiana: Not recognized, per Nolo's Indiana page.
• Indiana will signing tracker (Excel). Steps, ID, copies and review dates. Remote witnessing in Indiana: No: Indiana requires the witnesses' actual presence, even for an electronic will (Nolo's Indiana page, citing Ind. Code 29-1-21-4). The signing may be videotaped, but the witnesses still have to be there. Electronic wills: Authorized. The 2021 law lets an attorney or paralegal supervise the execution of an electronic will.