AnalysisHouse Bill 09-1287, the latest in a flurry of new legislation affecting the notarization process in Colorado this legislative session, permits a last will to be executed by the signature of the person making the will and either witnessed by two persons or acknowledged before a Notary or other officer authorized to take acknowledgments. This new provision affects all wills, except certain holographic (handwritten) wills. In addition, the new law clarifies the procedures for “self-proving” a will — establishing the authenticity of a will without the attesting witnesses having to testify in probate court after the death of the person and filing of the will. In order to make a will self-proving, the testator signature must be acknowledged and witnesses must sign affidavits before a Notary or other oath-administering officer in Colorado. These attestations are then annexed to the will. HB 09-1287 also clarifies that a self-proved will satisfies the requirements of execution unless it can be proved that the accompanying attestations were the product of forgery or fraud. Similarly, the new law states that a notarized, but not self-proved, will carries a rebuttable presumption of having satisfied the requirements for execution upon filing the will.
At a time when many states have removed the option of notarization as one means of executing a will, HB 09-1287 reaffirms the abiding value Notaries can bring to arguably one of the most important of all documents most people sign.
Read House Bill 09-1287.