Free North Dakota Codicil to a Will

In North Dakota, a codicil is signed before 2 witnesses, like a will, and the self-proving affidavit signed with it lets the court admit it without witness testimony.

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The person who made the will and signs this codicil. North Dakota's will-execution statute reaches a codicil (N.D.C.C. § 30.1-01-06(64)), so the codicil is signed as a will is.

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A will is changed by a codicil, a separate signed instrument that adds, revokes or replaces provisions of the will and republishes the rest, or by a new will that revokes the old one. North Dakota's probate code defines a will to include a codicil, so a codicil is signed and witnessed, or acknowledged before a notary, as a will is. The same definition carries the codicil into the self-proving affidavit for a witnessed will. The codicil prepared here names the will by its date, states each change as a numbered amendment, and prints the execution block North Dakota requires for a will.

North Dakota requires 2 witnesses present when the testator signs a will, and a codicil is signed the same way: North Dakota's probate code defines a will to include a codicil, so a codicil is signed and witnessed, or acknowledged before a notary, as a will is. The same definition carries the codicil into the self-proving affidavit for a witnessed will.

North Dakota does not require a notary for a will to be valid, and a codicil follows the will's execution rule. The notary's role is the self-proving affidavit: North Dakota extends the self-proving affidavit to a codicil, so the testator and witnesses sign it with the codicil and the codicil enters probate without the witnesses testifying.

A will is changed by its maker. In North Dakota the testator must be at least 18 years old, and a codicil is the testator's own signed instrument: North Dakota's probate code defines a will to include a codicil, so a codicil is signed and witnessed, or acknowledged before a notary, as a will is. The same definition carries the codicil into the self-proving affidavit for a witnessed will. A power of attorney names an agent to act for you in the matters it lists while you are living, and an executor administers the estate under the will as admitted; neither document is the testator's signature on a codicil or a new will.

North Dakota recognizes a handwritten will without witnesses, and that rule is the will's. The codicil prepared here is typed and signed before 2 witnesses, as the North Dakota will is, so it does not depend on the handwriting rule.

A Codicil to a Will in North Dakota

A codicil is a separate signed instrument that changes a will without replacing it: it adds, revokes or replaces named provisions and republishes everything else as written. North Dakota's probate code defines a will to include a codicil, so a codicil is signed and witnessed, or acknowledged before a notary, as a will is. The same definition carries the codicil into the self-proving affidavit for a witnessed will.

In North Dakota a will is signed before 2 witnesses, and notarization is not required for validity; the codicil prints the same attestation for its witnesses, naming the instrument as a codicil to the will.

North Dakota extends the self-proving affidavit to a codicil: the testator and the witnesses sign it before a notary public, and the codicil enters probate without the witnesses appearing in court. The affidavit prints after the attestation, with the instrument named as a codicil.

Four articles: the declaration naming the will by its date, the amendments as numbered paragraphs (each a provision added, revoked or replaced), the republication of everything the codicil does not change, and the governing law. The signed original belongs with the original will, since a codicil is read together with it.

A new will is the other instrument of change: the North Dakota will prepared here revokes all earlier wills and codicils by its own declaration, so a change that reaches most of a will's provisions is made that way, and a change to a few is made by codicil.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated October 25, 2026

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Free North Dakota Codicil to a Will

In North Dakota, a codicil is signed before 2 witnesses, like a will, and the self-proving affidavit signed with it lets the court admit it without witness testimony.

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A Codicil to a Will in North Dakota

Free North Dakota Codicil to a Will

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