The part almost everyone gets wrong
In most states, a will is made valid by witnesses — commonly two adults who watch the testator sign — not by a notary seal. Notarizing the will itself usually adds nothing, and it never substitutes for missing witnesses.
The notarized piece is the self-proving affidavit: a sworn statement, signed by the testator and the witnesses in front of a notary, attesting that the will was properly executed. Formats vary by state and a few states handle self-proving differently, so the affidavit attached to your will should come from whoever prepared the will. We handle process and logistics — what the affidavit should say is a question for the drafter.
Why the affidavit earns its seal
The affidavit is pure probate logistics. Without one, courts commonly require the witnesses to be located and to testify or sign statements — years or decades after the signing, when witnesses have moved, forgotten, or died. With a self-proving affidavit, the will is typically admitted on the paperwork alone.
A few extra minutes at execution in exchange for sparing your executor a search project — that trade is why the affidavit is standard practice wherever it's available.
Can this be done online? State by state, honestly
This is the document family where online notarization hits the most exclusions. New Jersey excludes wills, codicils, and testamentary trusts from RON. Wisconsin excludes estate-planning documents broadly. Louisiana excludes testaments. New York's execution formalities effectively require traditional signing (New York), and Colorado permits it only within its electronic-wills framework. North Carolina and Ohio apply special handling.
So the honest answer is: sometimes — and we check your exact state and document before you pay, rather than selling a seal a probate court might later question. See the state availability grid for where your state stands.
The execution session, wherever it happens
The logistics are the same in a law office or on video:
Assemble everyone your state's rules require
The testator, the required number of witnesses, and the notary for the affidavit. Whether remote witnessing satisfies your state's will-execution rules is a separate question from notarization — confirm it with the drafting attorney.
Sign in the order the document dictates
Typically the will first — testator, then witnesses — then the self-proving affidavit sworn and signed before the notary.
Guard the original
Probate courts generally want the original paper will. Store it where your executor can actually reach it, and tell them where it is.
Ship it safely if it must travel
To the drafting attorney's vault or a family member: tracked shipping with delivery confirmation, never a plain envelope. That's the "ship" in SignSealShip.
The honest bottom line
For many families the practical pattern is: execute the will in person, exactly as the drafting attorney instructs — and do everything around it online, where the friction is lower and the rules are cleaner: the powers of attorney, the affidavits, the deed work. We're glad to be the platform for the second half, and to tell you plainly when the first half belongs offline.