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

Who it is for

Anyone signing a will in Iowa, and the family member, friend or office helping set up the signing. Who can make a will, per the official page: Of full age: at least 18, or ever married (Nolo, citing Iowa Code 633.264 and 633.3).

Not the right fit if

The person signing isn't in Iowa, 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 Iowa will signing data file, checked November 2026 against Iowa Code 633.279, Signed and witnessed (Iowa Legislature, 2024); Iowa Code 633.281, Interest of witnesses (Iowa Legislature, 2024); Nolo (secondary source): How to Make a Will in Iowa (Nolo, updated September 2025).
• All 7 Iowa facts are confirmed: on an official page, or where none could be read, on a vetted secondary source marked as such.
• Sources: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/2024/633.279.pdf https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/2024/633.281.pdf https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/iowa-make-will-31921.html
• For the estate side in Iowa, the Iowa Executor and Estate Kit: Personal property worth $100,000 or less, and no real property, under H.F. 2660 (2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1048, approved April 16, 2026), which raised the limit from $50,000. The Act doesn't state its own effective date, so for a death in 2026 ask the clerk which figure applies. For deaths before January 1, 2025, real property passing to exempt persons as joint tenants with survivorship didn't count against the limit.

What is inside

• Start here. The 7 confirmed Iowa facts at a glance.
• Iowa signing-day checklist. Bring 2 witnesses, each at least 16. The rule: Two witnesses, who sign at the testator's request in the presence of the testator and each other. 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: The will stays valid, but unless two disinterested witnesses also signed, an interested witness loses whatever the will gives beyond what that witness would get with no will. Have a notary or another officer who can administer oaths there for the self-proving affidavit. The statute names that officer rather than notaries by name. Allowed at signing or any later date, before a person authorized to administer oaths and take acknowledgments. A self-proved will can be admitted without witness testimony.
• Witness information sheet. One block per Iowa witness (2 required, plus a spare). Witness age: The self-proving affidavit form says the witnesses were 16 or older.
• Original-will storage and location record. Where the original is and who has copies. Handwritten wills in Iowa: Not recognized unless witnessed: every will, to be valid, must be signed and declared before two witnesses (Iowa Code 633.279). The only exception the section names is for wills made under another state's law (633.283).
• Iowa will signing tracker (Excel). Steps, ID, copies and review dates. Remote witnessing in Iowa: Presence can be physical or electronic, as long as the witness and testator can see and hear each other. Counterparts signed in different places are allowed. Electronic wills: Not authorized, per Nolo's Iowa page (updated September 2025).