Idaho Will and Trust Laws: Witnesses, Holographic Wills (2026)

Under Idaho law, any emancipated minor or any person 18 or older who is of sound mind may make a will (Idaho Code 15-2-501). Section 15-2-502 requires the will to be in writing, signed by the testator (or by another person in the testator's name, in the testator's presence and by the testator's direction), and signed by at least two witnesses, each of whom saw either the signing or the testator's acknowledgment of the signature or of the will. Section 15-2-502 does not require a notary. A will that misses those rules can still be valid as a holographic will if the signature and the material provisions are in the testator's handwriting (15-2-503).

Living trusts work differently in Idaho than in most states on the wills and trusts laws by state hub. Idaho has not adopted the Uniform Trust Code. Its trust statutes sit in Title 15, chapter 7 (trust administration) and Title 68, chapter 1 (trusts), and they deal mainly with registering a trust, trustee duties and certifications of trust rather than with how a living trust is created, revoked or contested.

Information last verified on 2026-10-19. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Idaho statutes on making, signing, changing and revoking wills (Idaho Code Title 15, chapter 2), electronic wills (Title 15, chapter 2, Part 11) and the trust statutes that bear on revocable living trusts (Title 15, chapter 7 and Title 68, chapter 1). It does not cover what happens when someone dies without a will or how estate administration works (see Idaho probate), small-estate procedures (see the Idaho small estate affidavit page), powers of attorney (see Idaho power of attorney laws), or taxes. A living will is a health-care directive, not a will; see the Idaho advance directive tool.

What makes a will valid in Idaho?

Two sections set the basic rules. Section 15-2-501 sets capacity: "Any emancipated minor or any person eighteen (18) or more years of age who is of sound mind may make a will." Section 15-2-502 sets the form:

"every will shall be in writing signed by the testator or in the testator's name by some other person in the testator's presence and by his direction, and shall be signed by at least two (2) persons each of whom witnessed either the signing or the testator's acknowledgment of the signature or of the will." (Idaho Code 15-2-502)

That sentence opens with exceptions: holographic wills, separate writings for tangible personal property under 15-2-513, wills valid under the choice-of-law rule in 15-2-506, and the notary-assisted signature in 51-109. Each is covered below.

A few points follow from the text of 15-2-502:

• What the witnesses must see. Each witness must have witnessed either the signing itself or the testator's acknowledgment of the signature or of the will. The section does not say the witnesses must sign in the testator's presence or in each other's presence. The self-proving affidavit forms in 15-2-504, however, have each witness swear that he or she signed "in the presence and hearing of the testator."
• Someone else may sign. Another person may sign the testator's name, but only in the testator's presence and by the testator's direction.
• A testator who cannot sign. Section 51-109 lets an individual who is physically unable to sign direct someone other than the notary public to sign the individual's name, and the notary then inserts "Signature affixed by (name of other individual) at the direction of (name of individual)" or similar words.

Who can be a witness

Under 15-2-505(a), "Any person eighteen (18) or more years of age generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will." Subsection (b) adds that "A will or any provision thereof is not invalid because the will is signed by an interested witness." The section does not take away a gift to a witness who is also a beneficiary.

Wills signed in another state or country

Under 15-2-506, a written will is valid if it complies with 15-2-502 or 15-2-503, "or if its execution complies with the law at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed, or of the law of the place where at the time of execution or at the time of death the testator is domiciled, has a place of abode or is a national."

Does an Idaho will need to be notarized? The self-proving option

No. Section 15-2-502 contains no notary requirement. A notary comes in through 15-2-504, which lets a will be made "self-proved."

Under 15-2-504(1), any will "may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved, by the acknowledgment thereof by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state where execution occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under official seal." Under 15-2-504(2), an attested will may also be made self-proved "at any time subsequent to its execution," with the officer's certificate attached or annexed to the will.

The statutory wording of the acknowledgment and affidavits is set out in 15-2-504 itself; this page does not reproduce it.

What self-proving does: in a contested case, for a self-proved will "compliance with signature requirements for execution is conclusively presumed and other requirements of execution are presumed subject to rebuttal without the testimony of any witness," unless there is proof of fraud or forgery (15-3-406(b)). For an attested will that is not self-proved, when evidence of execution is needed in a contested case, "the testimony of at least one (1) of the attesting witnesses, if within the state competent and able to testify, is required" (15-3-406(a)). Other probate steps are covered on the Idaho probate page.

Are handwritten (holographic) wills valid in Idaho?

Yes. Section 15-2-503 provides:

"A will which does not comply with section 15-2-502 of this Part is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and the material provisions are in the handwriting of the testator." (Idaho Code 15-2-503)

Two conditions do the work: the signature and the material provisions must be in the testator's handwriting. The section does not require a date or witnesses. Note that Idaho's 15-2-503 is the holographic-will section; Idaho has no separate section letting a court excuse a defective signing (see the harmless-error section below).

Are oral (nuncupative) wills valid in Idaho?

Section 15-2-502 requires every will to be in writing, and Part 5 of Title 15, chapter 2 (sections 15-2-501 through 15-2-513) contains no section that recognizes or regulates an oral will. The choice-of-law rule in 15-2-506 also applies only to "a written will." Idaho's statute of frauds, 9-502, still carries the phrase "except a nuncupative will," but that phrase does not create a procedure for making one, and the probate code's writing requirement controls how an Idaho will is executed.

Electronic wills and remote witnessing

Idaho has an electronic-will statute. Part 11 of Title 15, chapter 2 "shall be known and may be cited as the 'Uniform Electronic Wills Act'" (15-2-1101), and under 15-2-1111 its provisions "apply to the will of a decedent who dies on or after January 1, 2020." The act was added by Senate Bill 1092 (2023 Idaho Session Laws ch. 104), signed March 21, 2023, and made retroactive to January 1, 2020.

How an electronic will is signed

Section 15-2-1105(1) sets the requirements. An electronic will must be:

1. "A tamper-evident electronic record that is readable as text at the time of signing";
2. Signed by the testator, or by another individual "in the testator's name, in the testator's physical presence, and by the testator's direction"; and
3. "Signed in the physical or electronic presence of the testator by at least two (2) individuals, each of whom is a resident of a state at the time of signing, within a reasonable time after witnessing" the signing or the testator's acknowledgment of the signing or of the will.

The definitions in 15-2-1102 explain the terms. "Electronic presence" means "the relationship of two (2) or more individuals in different locations communicating in real time by means of communication technology," and communication technology is a device or process that lets two or more individuals "communicate with each other simultaneously by sight and sound" (or, when necessary, facilitates communication with a remotely located individual who has a vision, hearing or speech impairment). "Tamper-evident" means a feature that preserves evidence of any change to the record, including a digital certificate that satisfies 51-120.

Two limits matter in practice:

• Remote witnessing is for electronic wills. The physical-or-electronic-presence rule appears in 15-2-1105 for electronic wills. Section 15-2-502, which governs paper wills, does not mention electronic presence.
• A proxy signer must be physically present. Witnesses may be remote, but a person who signs for the testator must do so in the testator's physical presence.

Under 15-2-1105(2), the testator's intent that a record be his or her electronic will "may be established by extrinsic evidence." A will signed electronically that does not meet 15-2-1105(1) is still an electronic will under 15-2-1104 if it complies with the law of the place where the testator was physically located when signing, or was domiciled or resided when signing or at death.

Self-proving, revoking and filing an electronic will

• Self-proving only at signing. Under 15-2-1108, an electronic will may be executed, attested and made self-proved at the same time under 15-2-504(1), but 15-2-504(2) (making a will self-proved later) "shall not apply with respect to an electronic will." The witness affidavit may replace "presence and hearing" with "physical or electronic presence," and the acknowledgment and affidavits must be tamper-evident electronic records affixed to or logically associated with the will.
• Revocation. Under 15-2-1107, an electronic will is revoked by a later will that revokes it expressly or by inconsistency, or by a physical act if it is shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the testator, intending to revoke, performed the act or directed another individual who performed it in the testator's physical presence.
• Paper copies and filing. Under 15-2-1109, an individual may create a certified paper copy by affirming under penalty of perjury that it is a complete, true and accurate copy, and an electronic will transmitted to the registrar or court by electronic filing "constitutes the original of the electronic will." A petition to probate an electronic will must state that it is a tamper-evident electronic record and address the records associated with it.

Is there a harmless-error rule in Idaho?

No. Part 5 of Title 15, chapter 2 (15-2-501 through 15-2-513) and the Uniform Electronic Wills Act in Part 11 contain no section letting a court treat a document as a will despite a defect in how it was signed or witnessed. The only extrinsic-evidence rule in those parts is 15-2-1105(2), which concerns whether an electronic record was meant to be the testator's electronic will. A will that misses the witness rules must qualify as a holographic will under 15-2-503, or under another state's law through 15-2-506, to be valid.

Changing or revoking an Idaho will

Methods of revocation

Section 15-2-507 provides that a will or any part of it is revoked:

• "By a subsequent will which revokes the prior will or part expressly or by inconsistency"; or
• "By being burned, torn, canceled, obliterated or destroyed, with the intent and for the purpose of revoking it by the testator or by another person in his presence and by his direction."

Under 15-2-507(c), "The revocation of a will executed in duplicate may be accomplished by revoking one (1) of the duplicates."

Reviving an earlier will

Section 15-2-509 deals with what happens when a later will is itself revoked. If the later will is revoked by physical act, the earlier will stays revoked "unless it is evident from the circumstances of the revocation of the second will or from testator's contemporary or subsequent declarations that he intended the first will to take effect as executed." If the later will is revoked by a third will, the earlier will stays revoked except to the extent the third will shows the testator intended it to take effect. Under 15-2-509(c), "Republication of a revoked will revives such will."

Divorce and annulment

Two sections apply, and they reach different documents.

• The will (15-2-508). If the testator is divorced or the marriage is annulled after the will is signed, the divorce or annulment "revokes any disposition or appointment of property made by the will to the former spouse, any provision conferring a general or special power of appointment on the former spouse, and any nomination of the former spouse as executor, trustee, conservator, or guardian, unless the will expressly provides otherwise." The revoked property passes as if the former spouse failed to survive the testator. Provisions revoked solely by this section "are revived by testator's remarriage to the former spouse." A decree of separation that does not end the marriage is not a divorce for this purpose.
• Other governing instruments (15-2-804). This section applies to a "governing instrument" executed by the divorced individual before the divorce or annulment. Except as provided by the express terms of the governing instrument, a court order, or a contract relating to the division of the marital estate made between the divorced individuals, a divorce or annulment revokes any revocable disposition or appointment of property to the former spouse (or to a relative of the former spouse) in a governing instrument, any power of appointment given to them, and any nomination of them to serve in a fiduciary or representative capacity, "including a personal representative, executor, trustee, conservator, agent or guardian." It also turns joint tenancies with right of survivorship between the former spouses into equal tenancies in common. Under 15-2-804(a)(1), a "disposition or appointment of property" includes "a transfer of an item of property or any other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument." A disposition counts as "revocable" only if the divorced individual alone had the power, at the time of the divorce or annulment, to cancel the designation of the former spouse. Provisions revoked solely by this section are revived by remarriage to the former spouse or if the divorce or annulment is set aside, and a payor who pays a designated beneficiary before receiving written notice of the divorce is protected (15-2-804(e), (g)).

Federal law limits the beneficiary-designation part of this rule. For employer plans governed by ERISA, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, 532 U.S. 141 (2001), that federal law pre-empts a state statute revoking a spouse's beneficiary designation on divorce, as applied to those plans (see the wills and trusts hub for the federal layer). Section 15-2-804(h)(2) anticipates this: where federal law pre-empts the section, a person who received a payment not for value that the section would otherwise have redirected must return it or is personally liable for its value to the person who would have been entitled to it.

Section 15-6-201(c) adds a narrower rule for written agreements to pass property at death to a surviving spouse: those agreements "shall be revoked in the event husband and wife are subsequently divorced."

Marriage and children after the will

Section 15-2-508 ends with "No change of circumstances other than as described in this section revokes a will." Marriage and the birth of a child do not revoke an Idaho will, but they can change who takes:

• Spouse married after the will. Under 15-2-301, a spouse who married the testator after the will was made and is not provided for "shall receive the same share of the estate he would have received if the decedent left no will," unless the will shows the omission was intentional or the testator provided for the spouse outside the will intending the transfer to replace a gift by will.
• Child born or adopted after the will. Under 15-2-302, an omitted later-born or adopted child receives a share equal in value to an intestate share, unless the will shows the omission was intentional, the testator had at least one child when the will was signed and left substantially all of the estate to the omitted child's other parent, or the testator provided for the child outside the will in lieu of a gift by will. A living child left out solely because the testator believed the child was dead also receives an intestate-value share (15-2-302(b)).

The intestate shares these sections refer to are explained on the Idaho probate page.

Limits on what an Idaho will can do

Community and quasi-community property. Idaho is a community-property state: property a spouse owned before marriage, or acquired afterward "by gift, bequest, devise or descent" or with the proceeds of separate property, remains separate property (32-903), and "All other property acquired after marriage by either husband or wife is community property" (32-906(1)). At a married person's death, only "the decedent's share of their community property devolves to the persons to whom it is devised by his last will" (15-3-101), so a will cannot give away the surviving spouse's half. For quasi-community property (property acquired while the decedent lived elsewhere that would have been community property if the decedent had lived in Idaho), 15-2-201(a) provides that at the death of a married person domiciled in Idaho, one-half "shall belong to the surviving spouse" and the other half is subject to the decedent's will.

The spouse's elective right. Under 15-2-203(a), the surviving spouse's right in the augmented quasi-community property estate "shall be elective and shall be limited to one-half (1/2)" of that estate, reduced under 15-2-203(b) by an allocable portion of administration expenses, the homestead allowance, exempt property and enforceable claims. The election is made by petition "within nine (9) months after the death of the decedent or six (6) months after the date of filing of the petition for probate, whichever is later" (15-2-205(a)). Under 15-2-208, a spouse may waive the election, the homestead allowance and exempt property in a written contract, agreement or waiver signed after fair disclosure, before or after marriage.

No-contest clauses. Under 15-3-905, a provision in a will purporting to penalize an interested person for contesting the will or instituting other proceedings relating to the estate "is unenforceable if probable cause exists for instituting proceedings."

Gifts to care-facility operators and staff. Under 15-2-616, a devise to anyone who owns, operates or is employed at a nursing home, residential or assisted living facility or any home, "including the testator's home," where the testator lived within one year of death "shall be presumed to have been the result of undue influence, rebuttable by clear and convincing evidence." The presumption does not limit gifts to relatives or to charitable or benevolent societies or corporations, and it does not apply to the will of a person whose death is caused by accident if the will was signed before the accident.

Survival and lapse. A devisee who does not survive the testator by 120 hours is treated as having predeceased the testator unless the will deals with simultaneous death or requires survival (15-2-601). Under 15-2-605, if a devisee who is a grandparent or a lineal descendant of a grandparent of the testator dies first, that devisee's issue who survive the testator by 120 hours take in the devisee's place.

Slayers. Under 15-2-803(b), "No slayer shall in any way acquire any property or receive any benefit as a result of the death of the decedent."

Contracts about wills. Under 15-2-701, a contract to make a will, not to revoke one or to die intestate can be established only by provisions of a will, an express reference in a will plus extrinsic evidence, or a writing signed by the decedent. "The execution of a joint will or mutual wills does not create a presumption of a contract not to revoke the will or wills."

Lists, references and storing a will

• Tangible personal property list. Under 15-2-513, a will may refer to a written list disposing of items of tangible personal property not otherwise disposed of by the will, other than money, evidences of indebtedness, documents of title, securities and property used in trade or business. The list must be in the testator's handwriting or signed by the testator and describe the items and recipients with reasonable certainty; it may be prepared before or after the will and changed later.
• Incorporation by reference. Under 15-2-510, a writing in existence when the will is signed may be incorporated by reference if the will shows that intent and describes the writing well enough to identify it.
• Will registry. Under 15-2-1001, the Secretary of State keeps a will registry recording the testator's name, the date of the will and where it is kept. The registration fee is $10. Failure to register "shall not be a factor in the validity of the will," and only interested persons or their attorneys may search the registry.
• Delivering the will after death. Under 15-2-902, a person holding a will must deliver it "with reasonable promptness" after the testator's death to a person able to secure its probate, or to an appropriate court. A person who willfully fails to deliver it is liable for resulting damages, and one who refuses after a court order is subject to contempt.

Living trusts in Idaho

No Uniform Trust Code

Idaho has not adopted the Uniform Trust Code. Title 15, chapter 7 governs trust administration: registration, court jurisdiction, trustee duties, spendthrift provisions, trust protectors and dry trusts. Title 68, chapter 1 contains the Uniform Trustees' Powers Act (68-104 to 68-113), which governs trustee powers, and the certification-of-trust sections (68-114 to 68-120). Disputes involving trusts and estates can be resolved under the Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act (TEDRA), Title 15, chapter 8, which provides "nonjudicial methods for the resolution of matters by agreement" and judicial resolution if no agreement is reached (15-8-101(2)); a written agreement signed by all parties is "binding and conclusive on all persons interested in the estate or trust," subject to 15-8-304 (15-8-302).

Those two chapters contain no section that states whether a trust is revocable when its instrument is silent, prescribes how a settlor revokes or amends a living trust, or sets a deadline for contesting the validity of a trust after the settlor dies. Answers to those questions come from outside these chapters, including Idaho court decisions, and this page does not state a default rule. A lawyer licensed in Idaho can address how they apply to a particular trust.

Creating a trust

The trust chapters contain no witness, notary or will-style signing requirement for a living trust. The statutes that do bear on creation are narrow:

• Trusts of real property need a signed writing. Under 9-503, no trust or power over or concerning real property "can be created, granted, assigned, surrendered, or declared, otherwise than by operation of law, or a conveyance or other instrument in writing, subscribed by the party creating, granting, assigning, surrendering or declaring the same, or by his lawful agent thereunto authorized by writing."
• Trust agreements that pass property at death are nontestamentary. Under 15-6-201(a), provisions in a trust agreement or other written instrument effective as a trust that pass property at death to a designated person are "deemed to be nontestamentary, and this code does not invalidate the instrument or any provision." The probate code therefore does not invalidate such a provision for lacking the signing formalities of a will.
• Oral trusts are contemplated. The registration statute, 15-7-102, provides how a trustee identifies "an oral trust" as well as a written inter vivos trust.
• An unfunded trust is valid. Under 15-7-701, a trust "shall be valid and enforceable even though it may not be funded at a given time, or from time to time," or holds no assets at all.
• Agents need express authority. Under 15-12-201(1)(a), an agent under a power of attorney may "Create, amend, revoke or terminate an inter vivos trust" only if the power of attorney expressly grants that authority. The Idaho power of attorney laws page covers powers of attorney generally.

Registering a trust

Idaho makes trust registration a trustee duty. Section 15-7-101 provides that "The trustee of a trust having its principal place of administration in this state shall register the trust in the court of this state at the principal place of administration." Unless the instrument designates otherwise, that place is the trustee's usual place of business where trust records are kept, or the trustee's residence.

• How. Under 15-7-102, the trustee files a statement acknowledging the trusteeship; a written inter vivos trust is identified by the name of each settlor, the original trustee and the date of the trust instrument.
• Effect. By registering, the trustee submits personally to the court's jurisdiction in proceedings concerning the trust (15-7-103). Under 15-7-201(b), registration does not result in continuing supervisory proceedings, and administration proceeds "free of judicial intervention" unless an interested party invokes the court.
• Failure to register. Under 15-7-104, a trustee who fails to register within 30 days after a written demand by a settlor or beneficiary is subject to removal and denial of compensation or to surcharge, unless directed not to register by all beneficiaries (or by a representative as 15-1-108 allows). A trust provision purporting to excuse registration "is ineffective."

Trustee duties to beneficiaries

Under 15-7-303(a), within 30 days after accepting the trust the trustee "shall inform in writing the current beneficiaries" of the court in which the trust is registered and the trustee's name and address. On reasonable request, a beneficiary is entitled to a copy of the trust terms that describe or affect his or her interest and to an annual statement of accounts (15-7-303(b), (c)). Unless the trust provides otherwise, the trustee must observe the standard of "a prudent man dealing with the property of another" (15-7-302).

A claim against a trustee for breach of trust is barred as to a beneficiary who received a final account fully disclosing the matter unless a proceeding is started within six months after receipt, and a trustee who issued a final account and told the beneficiary where records are available is protected after three years (15-7-307). That section limits claims against a trustee; it is not a deadline for contesting whether a trust is valid.

Creditors of a settlor who is also a beneficiary

Under 15-7-502(4), "If a person is both a settlor and beneficiary of the same trust, a provision restraining the voluntary or involuntary transfer of the settlor's beneficial interest in such trust does not prevent the settlor's creditors from satisfying claims from the settlor's interest in the trust estate that relates to the portion of the trust that was contributed by the settlor."

Certification of trust

A trustee does not have to hand over the trust instrument to prove the trust exists. Under 68-114(1), "A trustee may present a certification of trust to any person in lieu of a copy of any trust instrument to establish the existence or terms of the trust," but "no person is required to accept and rely solely on a certification of trust." The certification must be an affidavit "signed and acknowledged by all of the currently acting trustees" (68-114(2)).

Under 68-115, a certification may state, among other things, the trust's existence and the date of the trust instrument, the settlor and trustees, the trustee's powers, "The revocability or irrevocability of the trust and the identity of any person holding a power to revoke it," and how title to trust assets is taken. It must state that the trust has not been revoked or amended to make any representation incorrect. A person who relies on a certification without knowing it is incorrect "is not liable to any person for so acting" (68-117(1)). These sections apply to all trusts, whether established under Idaho law or another state's (68-119).

Pour-over wills

A pour-over will leaves property to the trustee of a trust. Section 15-2-511(1)(a) allows a will to "validly devise property to the trustee of a trust established or to be established" during the testator's lifetime "by the testator or by the testator and some other person or by some other person, including a funded or unfunded life insurance trust," or at the testator's death by a devise to a trust identified in the will whose terms are in a written instrument other than a will.

Under 15-2-511(1)(b), "The devise is not invalid because the trust is amendable or revocable, or because the trust was amended after the execution of the will or the testator's death." Unless the will provides otherwise, the property becomes part of the trust and is administered under the trust's terms, including amendments made before or after the testator's death (15-2-511(2)). One limit: unless the will provides otherwise, "a revocation or termination of the trust before the testator's death causes the devise to lapse" (15-2-511(3)).

Idaho wills and trusts at a glance

Making a will in practice

The site's free Idaho will-maker tool can help draft a basic will. Whatever produces the document, signing must follow 15-2-502 (or the electronic-will rules in 15-2-1105), and the self-proving procedure in 15-2-504 is optional. Complex estates, blended families, community-property questions, business interests or tax concerns are reasons to consult a lawyer licensed in Idaho. The tool is not legal advice.

Members of the armed forces have one federal option as well: under 10 U.S.C. 1044d, a military testamentary instrument is exempt from state formalities and has the same legal effect as a will executed under the law of the state where it is presented for probate (see the wills and trusts hub for the federal layer).

Related pages

• Wills and trusts laws by state
• Idaho probate
• Idaho small estate affidavit
• Idaho power of attorney laws

This article provides general legal information about Idaho law on wills and living trusts as of 2026-10-19. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Idaho or the court that handles probate in your county.

Last updated: 2026-10-19.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many witnesses does a will need in Idaho?

Two. Idaho Code 15-2-502 requires a will to be signed by at least two persons, each of whom witnessed the signing or the testator's acknowledgment of the signature or of the will. A holographic will under 15-2-503 is the exception: it is valid whether or not witnessed if the signature and material provisions are in the testator's handwriting.

Is a handwritten will valid in Idaho?

Yes, if the signature and the material provisions are in the testator's handwriting. Section 15-2-503 makes such a will valid as a holographic will whether or not it is witnessed, and the section does not require a date.

Does a will have to be notarized in Idaho?

No. Section 15-2-502 contains no notary requirement. A notary or other officer authorized to administer oaths is used only if the testator and witnesses choose to make the will self-proved under 15-2-504, either when it is signed or later; an electronic will can be self-proved only at the time of execution (15-2-1108).

Are oral wills valid in Idaho?

Section 15-2-502 requires every will to be in writing, and Part 5 of Title 15, chapter 2 contains no section recognizing or regulating an oral (nuncupative) will. An oral statement does not meet Idaho's execution rules.

Can I make an electronic will in Idaho?

Yes. Idaho's Uniform Electronic Wills Act (15-2-1101 to 15-2-1111), added in 2023, applies to the will of a decedent who dies on or after January 1, 2020. Under 15-2-1105 the will must be a tamper-evident electronic record readable as text, signed by the testator, and signed by two witnesses, each a resident of a state, in the testator's physical or electronic presence.

Does divorce revoke a will in Idaho?

Divorce or annulment revokes the will's gifts, powers of appointment and fiduciary nominations in favor of the former spouse unless the will expressly provides otherwise, and remarriage to the former spouse revives them (15-2-508). A legal separation that does not end the marriage is not a divorce for this purpose. Section 15-2-804 sets separate rules, with its own exceptions, for other governing instruments; see the divorce section.

Does Idaho have a trust code?

Idaho has not adopted the Uniform Trust Code. Title 15, chapter 7 covers trust registration, court jurisdiction, trustee duties, spendthrift provisions, trust protectors and dry trusts, and Title 68, chapter 1 holds the Uniform Trustees' Powers Act and the certification-of-trust sections (68-114 to 68-120).

Does a living trust have to be registered in Idaho?

Section 15-7-101 says the trustee of a trust with its principal place of administration in Idaho shall register the trust in the court at that place. A trustee who fails to register within 30 days after a written demand by a settlor or beneficiary is subject to removal, denial of compensation or surcharge (15-7-104), and registration does not create continuing court supervision (15-7-201(b)).

Can a spouse be left out of a will in Idaho?

A will passes only the decedent's share of community property; the surviving spouse's half is not part of what the will can give away (15-3-101). Idaho's spousal elective right is limited to one-half of the augmented quasi-community property estate (15-2-203), which reaches property acquired while the decedent lived elsewhere that would have been community property in Idaho. The petition must be filed within nine months after death or six months after the probate petition is filed, whichever is later (15-2-205). A spouse married after the will may also take an intestate share under 15-2-301.