Maryland: Will Execution Requirements
The short answer
To sign a valid will in Maryland you must be at least 18 and legally competent, put the will in writing, and sign it yourself (or have someone sign for you in your physical presence and at your direction). Two or more credible witnesses must then attest and sign in your presence. Notarization is not required for an ordinary paper will. Maryland does NOT recognize a general handwritten (holographic) will — only a narrow one made by someone in the armed services overseas — but it is one of the states that allows an electronic will and remote (audio-video) witnessing under a supervised, certified process. A will that misses these steps is invalid, though Maryland honors a will valid where you signed it.
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This is the general rule in Maryland. Ezel applies current Maryland law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Md. Code, Estates & Trusts (ET) Title 4, Subtitle 1: § 4-101 (definitions, including electronic will and remotely witnessed will), § 4-102 (writing, signature, and witness rules, plus electronic/remote execution), § 4-103 (narrow military holographic will), § 4-104 (out-of-state execution). Maryland is a common-law attested-will state that added electronic and remotely-witnessed wills effective April 21, 2022; it has no harmless-error statute and no general holographic will |
|---|---|
| Minimum age & capacity | 'Any person may make a will if the person is 18 years of age or older, and legally competent to make a will' (§ 4-102(a)). Age 18, with no general minor exception. 'Legally competent' is the testamentary-capacity (sound-mind) standard — understanding the act, one's property, and the natural objects of one's bounty |
| Writing & signature | The will must be in writing and 'signed by the testator, or by some other person for the testator, in the testator's physical presence and by the testator's express direction' (§ 4-102(b)(1)–(2)). An electronic will is signed with an electronic signature (§§ 4-101(d), 4-102). No statutory signature-at-the-end rule |
| Witnesses required | 'Attested and signed by two or more credible witnesses' in 'the physical presence of the testator,' or — for an electronic or remotely witnessed will — in 'the electronic presence of the testator' (§ 4-102(b)(3)). The witnesses sign in the testator's presence; the statute does not separately require them to sign in each other's presence for an ordinary paper will (though for an electronic/remote will everyone, plus a supervising attorney, must be in one another's presence — § 4-102(c)(1)). Maryland has no interested-witness/purging statute — a beneficiary may lawfully serve as a witness, though disinterested witnesses are safer |
| Notarization & self-proving | Notarization is NOT required for a conventional paper will — two credible witnesses in your physical presence is enough (§ 4-102(b)). Maryland builds a notarized (or supervising-attorney) acknowledgment and witness affidavit into the electronic/remotely-witnessed-will process, where it forms part of the 'certified will' that becomes the original (§ 4-102(c)(5)(iii), (d)(3)) |
| Handwritten (holographic) wills | Only in a narrow military case. A will 'entirely in the handwriting of a testator who is serving in the armed services of the United States' and 'signed by the testator outside of a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, or a territory' is valid with no witnesses (§ 4-103(a)) — but it is 'void one year after the discharge of the testator from the armed services' unless the testator died or lost capacity first (§ 4-103(b)). Maryland recognizes no general holographic will |
| Electronic & remote wills | Yes — permitted since April 21, 2022. An electronic will (electronically signed) or a remotely witnessed will (witnesses in the testator's real-time audio-video 'electronic presence') is valid if executed under § 4-102(c) or (d): the testator and all witnesses (and, under (c), a supervising attorney) are in one another's physical or electronic presence, the testator is a Maryland resident or physically in Maryland, each remote witness is a U.S. resident located in the U.S., and a 'certified will' — a paper version plus a signed certification and a notary or attorney acknowledgment — is created and 'deemed to be the original will' (§ 4-102(e)) |
| Harmless-error / curative doctrine | No. Maryland is a strict-compliance state with no harmless-error or substantial-compliance statute; a will that misses § 4-102's formalities is invalid, however clear the testator's intent. A will validly executed under another state's law, for a testator outside Maryland, is honored (§ 4-104) |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law
Maryland's will-execution rules are in the Estates and Trusts Article, Title 4, Subtitle 1.
Section 4-101 defines the terms — including "electronic will," "electronic presence," and
"remotely witnessed will" — and § 4-102 sets the core rules: a will must be in writing,
signed by the testator, and attested by two credible witnesses. Since April 21, 2022, that
same section also lets a will be signed and witnessed electronically or remotely, under a
supervised, certified process. Section 4-103 recognizes a narrow handwritten will for
service members overseas, and § 4-104 handles wills signed outside Maryland. Maryland has
no harmless-error rule to excuse a botched signing.
Minimum age & capacity
To make a Maryland will you must be at least 18 and "legally competent to make a will"
(§ 4-102(a)). "Legally competent" is the ordinary testamentary-capacity standard: at the
time of signing you understand that you are making a will, know in a general way what you
own, and know the people who would normally inherit from you. Maryland has no general
exception letting a minor make a will.
Writing & signature
The will must be in writing and "signed by the testator, or by some other person for the
testator, in the testator's physical presence and by the testator's express direction"
(§ 4-102(b)(1)-(2)). So if you cannot sign, someone may sign for you — but only while you
are physically present and at your direction. An electronic will is signed instead with an
electronic signature. Maryland has no rule that the signature appear at the very end.
Witnesses required
A Maryland will must be "attested and signed by two or more credible witnesses" in "the
physical presence of the testator" — or, for an electronic or remotely witnessed will, in
"the electronic presence of the testator" (§ 4-102(b)(3)). "Electronic presence" means
communicating in real time by audio-video "to the same extent as if the individuals were in
the physical presence of each other" (§ 4-101(c)). For an ordinary paper will the witnesses
sign while you are present; the statute does not separately require the two witnesses to
sign in front of each other (though the electronic/remote route requires everyone, plus a
supervising attorney, to be in one another's presence).
Maryland does not have an interested-witness "purging" statute. A gift to a witness is not
automatically void, and — as Maryland's own courts and public legal-information resources
note — it is legal for a beneficiary to serve as a witness. Because the statute requires
"credible" witnesses, the safe practice is still to use two witnesses who inherit nothing.
Notarization & self-proving
An ordinary Maryland paper will does not have to be notarized — two credible witnesses
signing in your physical presence is enough (§ 4-102(b)). Where notarization does appear is
the electronic/remote route: to create the "certified will," the testator's acknowledgment
and the witnesses' affidavits must be taken before a notary public (or, in the supervised
form, the supervising attorney), attached to the will (§ 4-102(c)(5)(iii), (d)(3)). That
certified will is then "deemed to be the original will" (§ 4-102(e)).
Handwritten (holographic) wills
Maryland does not recognize a general holographic will. The only handwritten, unwitnessed
will it allows is a very narrow one: a will "entirely in the handwriting of a testator who
is serving in the armed services of the United States," signed "outside of a state of the
United States, the District of Columbia, or a territory" (§ 4-103(a)). Even then it is
temporary — it becomes "void one year after the discharge of the testator from the armed
services," unless the testator dies or loses capacity within that year (§ 4-103(b)). For
everyone else, a handwritten will still needs two witnesses.
Electronic & remote wills
Maryland is among the states that allow both an electronic will and remote (audio-video)
witnessing, effective April 21, 2022. Under § 4-102(c) and (d), the testator and all
witnesses — and, in the supervised form, a supervising attorney — must be in one another's
physical or electronic presence when they sign; the testator must be a Maryland resident or
physically in Maryland; and any witness appearing by video must be a U.S. resident located
in the United States. A supervising attorney (or, in the alternative form, the testator
before a notary) then assembles a "certified will": a true paper copy of every page with
the signatures, a signed certification, and the notarized or attorney acknowledgment. That
certified will "shall be deemed to be the original will" (§ 4-102(e)). These are specific,
lawyer-supervised procedures — not something to improvise by emailing a scanned signature.
Harmless-error / curative doctrine
Maryland is a strict-compliance state. There is no harmless-error or substantial-compliance
statute, so a will that misses one of § 4-102's formalities — a missing witness, a
signature not made in the witnesses' presence — is invalid, no matter how clearly it
reflects the testator's wishes. The built-in saver is for out-of-state wills: § 4-104
honors a will that a testator signed while physically outside Maryland if it complied with
Maryland law, the testator's domicile law, or the law of the place where it was signed.
What trips people up
There is no general handwritten-will option. Outside the narrow military-overseas case
in § 4-103, a will in your own handwriting still needs two credible witnesses (§ 4-102(b)).
A signed, unwitnessed note is not a valid Maryland will, and because there is no
harmless-error rule, a court cannot rescue it.
The witnesses sign while you are present. Section 4-102(b)(3) requires the witnesses to
attest and sign in your physical (or, for an e-will, electronic) presence. The reliable
practice is to have both witnesses with you at the same time so there is no later dispute
that each signed in your presence.
Electronic and remote wills are lawyer-supervised, not DIY. Maryland genuinely allows
electronic and remotely witnessed wills, but only through the § 4-102(c)/(d) process — a
supervising attorney (or notary), a Maryland-located testator, U.S.-located witnesses, and
a certified paper version that becomes the original. A will "signed" by typing your name
into a document with no supervision or certification does not qualify.
A beneficiary can witness — but it is still a bad idea. Maryland has no purging statute,
so a gift to a witness is not automatically void. Even so, using two disinterested witnesses
avoids any "credibility" fight and keeps the will clean if it is ever challenged.
Common questions
Does my Maryland will have to be notarized? No. An ordinary paper will just needs two
credible witnesses who sign in your presence (§ 4-102(b)). Notarization comes into play only
if you use the electronic or remote-witnessing process, where a notary (or supervising
attorney) helps create the certified will.
Can I write my Maryland will by hand? You can write it by hand, but unless you are a
service member signing overseas (§ 4-103), it still needs two witnesses. Maryland does not
recognize a general holographic will.
Can I sign my Maryland will over video? Yes, within the rules. Maryland allows an
electronic or remotely witnessed will where the testator and witnesses appear in real-time
"electronic presence," with a supervising attorney or notary and a certified paper version
(§ 4-102(c)-(d)). The testator must be in Maryland and any remote witness must be in the
United States.
Can a beneficiary be one of my witnesses? Legally yes — Maryland has no purging statute
that voids a witness's gift. But it is better to choose two witnesses who are not
beneficiaries, so no one can question their credibility later.
Statutes and sources
- Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 4-101 — definitions, including "electronic presence," "electronic will," and "remotely witnessed will."
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=get§ion=4-101 (accessed 2026-07-11) - Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 4-102 — core execution: writing, testator's signature, two credible witnesses in the testator's physical or electronic presence; electronic/remote wills and the certified will.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=get§ion=4-102 (accessed 2026-07-11) - Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 4-103 — narrow holographic will for a service member signing overseas; void one year after discharge.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=get§ion=4-103 (accessed 2026-07-11) - Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 4-104 — a will signed outside Maryland is valid if it complies with Maryland law, the testator's domicile law, or the law of the place of signing.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=get§ion=4-104 (accessed 2026-07-11)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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