New Hampshire Will and Trust Laws: Witnesses, Remote Signing (2026)

A New Hampshire will is valid when it is in writing, signed by the testator (or by another person at the testator's express direction and in the testator's presence) and signed by two or more credible witnesses who, at the testator's request and in the testator's presence, attest to the testator's signature (RSA 551:2). A person 18 or older, or a married person under 18, who is of sane mind may make one (551:1). No notary is required for validity, and the will chapter has no section for an unwitnessed handwritten will. Living trusts are governed by the New Hampshire Trust Code, RSA chapter 564-B.

Among the wills and trusts laws by state, New Hampshire stands out for a narrow remote-witnessing rule: since 2020, witnesses may attest over a live audio-video connection, but only when the notarial officer on the call is the New Hampshire attorney who drafted the will, a New Hampshire attorney that attorney supervises, or a paralegal supervised by either (551:2, III). The same paragraph states that it does not allow an electronic will.

Information last verified on 2026-10-20. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers New Hampshire statutes on making, signing, changing and revoking wills (RSA chapters 551 and 552, with related sections of chapters 456-B, 560, 562-A, 563 and 563-A) and on revocable living trusts under the New Hampshire Trust Code (RSA 564-B). It does not cover what happens when someone dies without a will or how probate works (see New Hampshire probate), small-estate procedures (see the New Hampshire small estate affidavit page), powers of attorney (see New Hampshire power of attorney laws), or taxes. A living will is a health-care directive, not a will; see the New Hampshire advance directive tool.

What makes a will valid in New Hampshire?

Section 551:1 sets who may make a will: "Every person of the age of eighteen years and married persons under that age, of sane mind, may devise and dispose of their property, real and personal, and of any right or interest they may have in any property, by their last will in writing."

Section 551:2, I sets the requirements:

"To be valid, a will or codicil to a will shall: (a) Be made by a testator qualifying under RSA 551:1; and (b) Be in writing; and (c) Be signed by the testator, or by some person at his or her express direction in his or her presence; and (d) Be signed by 2 or more credible witnesses, who shall, at the request of the testator and in the testator's presence, attest to the testator's signature." (RSA 551:2, I)

In practical terms, that means:

• A writing. Every will and codicil must be in writing.
• The testator's signature. The testator signs, or another person signs at the testator's express direction and in the testator's presence.
• Two or more credible witnesses. They sign the will and attest to the testator's signature, at the testator's request and in the testator's presence.
• No seal or notary. Paragraph II provides that "No seal shall be required," and the section does not require a notary for validity. These requirements apply to all wills executed on or after January 1, 1993 (551:2, II).

Interested witnesses

Under RSA 551:3, "Any beneficial device or legacy made or given in a will to a subscribing witness thereto or to the wife or husband of such a witness shall be void unless there be 2 other subscribing witnesses." The witness remains a competent witness to the will, and "a provision therein for the payment of a debt shall not be void nor disqualify the creditor as a witness thereto."

Wills made in another state

Under RSA 551:5, I, "A will made out of this state, and valid according to the laws of the state or country where it was executed, may be proved and allowed in this state, and shall thereupon be as effective as it would have been if executed according to the laws of this state." A will made elsewhere and self-proved under that place's law is self-proved in New Hampshire too (551:5, II).

Remote witnessing by audio-video (wills executed on or after March 23, 2020)

New Hampshire added a narrow remote-witnessing rule in 2020 (2020, 17:12, effective July 17, 2020, amended in 2021). Under RSA 551:2, III(a), for purposes of chapter 551, a witness "shall be deemed in the presence of the testator" if the witness, the testator, the other witness or witnesses, and a notarial officer who is one of the following can communicate simultaneously by sight and sound through an electronic device or process at the time all of them sign the will or codicil:

1. "the attorney, licensed to practice law in New Hampshire and in good standing, who drafted the will or codicil";
2. "another attorney, licensed to practice law in New Hampshire and in good standing, under the drafting attorney's supervision"; or
3. "a paralegal under the supervision of either such attorney."

The paragraph sets further terms:

• Counterparts. The will or codicil "may be signed in multiple counterparts."
• Location of witnesses. "A witness need not be physically present within the state of New Hampshire at the time the witness attests to the testator's signature."
• No electronic wills. "Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to allow an electronic will or codicil" (551:2, III(b)).
• Dates. "This paragraph shall apply only to wills executed on or after March 23, 2020."

The remote rule therefore does not reach a will signed without one of those three notarial officers on the call, and it does not authorize a will that exists only in electronic form.

A matching rule in the notary statute covers the notarial act. Under RSA 456-B:2, VII, "only in the context of executing an estate planning instrument such as a will or estate planning trust," the requirement that a person appear before a notarial officer is satisfied if the officer is the drafting New Hampshire attorney, a supervised New Hampshire attorney or a supervised paralegal, and the person and officer "can communicate simultaneously by sight and sound through an electronic device or process at the time of the notarial act." It applies only to notarial acts performed on or after March 23, 2020, and it also provides that a notarial act performed in compliance with emergency order #11 under executive order 2020-04, from its effective date through the date of its expiration, is valid. Emergency Order #11 (March 23, 2020) allowed a notarial officer to notarize for an individual not physically present, by simultaneous sight-and-sound communication, "for the duration of the State of Emergency declared in Executive Order 2020-04." It addressed notarization, not the witnessing of a will, and it has expired.

Separately, since February 6, 2022, RSA 456-B:6-a lets a notary public located in New Hampshire perform a notarial act for a remotely located individual using communication technology, if the notary can identify the individual by personal knowledge, a credible witness or at least two types of identity proofing, can reasonably confirm the record is the same one the individual signed, and creates an audio-visual recording of the act, with added conditions for an individual located outside the United States (456-B:6-a, III).

Does a New Hampshire will need to be notarized? The self-proved will

No. Section 551:2 requires two credible witnesses and no notary. A notary enters through the optional self-proving procedure in RSA 551:2-a, I: "To qualify as self-proved, the signatures of the testator and witnesses shall be followed by a sworn acknowledgment made before a notary public or justice of the peace or other official authorized to administer oaths in the place of execution."

In the statutory acknowledgment, the testator and witnesses swear that the testator signed the instrument as his or her will (or expressly directed another to sign), that it was a free and voluntary act, that "Each witness signed at the request of the testator, in the testator's presence, and in the presence of the other witness," and that, to the best of their knowledge, the testator was at least 18 (or married if under 18), of sane mind and under no constraint or undue influence. This page does not reproduce the form.

Under RSA 552:5-b, "Any will meeting the requirements of RSA 551:2-a, RSA 551:5, II, or RSA 551-A:10 is self-proved and shall be allowed as such by the probate court." An international will meeting RSA 551-A also qualifies as self-proved (551:2-a, II).

Are handwritten (holographic) wills valid in New Hampshire?

A handwritten will is valid in New Hampshire only if it meets the same witnessing rule as any other will. Section 551:2 requires every will to be signed by two or more credible witnesses, and chapter 551 contains no section that makes an unwitnessed handwritten will valid.

The one route for a handwritten will without witnesses is a will made elsewhere: under 551:5, I, a will made out of New Hampshire that is valid under the law of the state or country where it was executed may be proved and allowed here.

Chapter 551 also contains no section for a separate written list of tangible personal property referred to in the will.

Are oral (nuncupative) wills valid in New Hampshire?

Only in narrow circumstances. Under RSA 551:15, "A soldier in actual military service, or a mariner or seaman when at sea, may dispose of his movables and personal estate as he might heretofore have done." Section 551:16 separately sets conditions for nuncupative wills:

"No nuncupative will shall be valid where the personal estate bequeathed exceeds in value one hundred dollars, unless declared in the presence of three witnesses who were requested by the testator to bear witness thereto, in his last sickness and in his usual dwelling, except when he was taken sick from home and died before his return; nor unless a memorandum thereof was reduced to writing within six days, and presented for probate within six months from the making thereof." (RSA 551:16)

The statutes do not state whether the 551:16 conditions apply to a soldier's or mariner's will under 551:15, which preserves the power to dispose of personal estate "as he might heretofore have done."

For everyone else, 551:1 and 551:2 require a will "in writing," so an oral will is not valid.

Electronic wills

New Hampshire does not authorize electronic wills. Section 551:2, I(b) requires a will "in writing," and the remote-witnessing paragraph states that "Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to allow an electronic will or codicil" (551:2, III(b)). Chapter 551 contains no electronic-will section.

Is there a harmless-error rule?

No. Section 551:2 opens "To be valid, a will or codicil to a will shall" meet the listed requirements, and chapter 551, which runs from 551:1 to 551:22, contains no section that lets a court excuse a defect in execution.

Changing or revoking a New Hampshire will

Methods of revocation

Under RSA 551:13, I, "no will or clause thereof shall be revoked unless by some other valid will or codicil, or by some writing executed in the same manner, or by canceling, tearing, obliterating or otherwise destroying the same by the testator, or by some person by the testator's consent and in the testator's presence."

Divorce or annulment: wills

Under RSA 551:13, II, "If after executing a will the testator is divorced or the marriage is annulled, 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 paragraph adds several rules:

• Who else is cut out. Property prevented from passing to the former spouse passes as if the former spouse "and all heirs in the descending line of such former spouse who are not also heirs at law of the decedent" failed to survive the decedent. A gift to those heirs of the former spouse that is contingent on the former spouse predeceasing the testator is also revoked, unless the will expressly provides otherwise.
• Remarriage. "If provisions are revoked solely by this section, they are revived by the testator's remarriage to the former spouse."
• Separation. "A decree of separation which does not terminate the status of husband and wife is not a divorce for the purposes of this section."
• Other events. "No change of circumstances other than as described in this section revokes a will."

The next section, RSA 551:14, provides that 551:13 "shall not control or affect any revocation of a will, implied by law, from any change in the circumstances of the testator, or his family, devisees, legatees or estate, occurring between the time of making the will and the death of the testator."

Divorce or annulment: revocable trusts

RSA 551:13, III applies a parallel rule to a trust instrument "in which a sole grantor reserves a power to alter, amend, revoke or terminate the provisions of the trust." If the grantor is later divorced or the marriage is annulled, the divorce or annulment revokes any disposition or appointment of property made by the trust to the former spouse, any power of appointment conferred on the former spouse and any nomination of the former spouse as trustee, "unless the trust expressly provides otherwise," with the same rules for the former spouse's descending-line heirs, revival on remarriage and separation decrees. The paragraph is limited to a trust with a sole grantor who reserved that power. Section 551:13 is written for wills (paragraph II) and for those trusts (paragraph III); its text does not mention life insurance or retirement-plan beneficiary designations.

Divorce or annulment: transfer on death deeds

Under RSA 563-D:14, I (effective July 1, 2024), a beneficiary designated in a transfer on death deed "shall be deemed to have predeceased the transferor" on "The divorce or annulment of the marriage between the transferor and such designated beneficiary, so long as the divorce or annulment has taken place subsequent to the execution of the transfer on death deed, unless the transfer on death deed provides otherwise."

Beneficiaries who die first

Under RSA 551:12, "The heirs in the descending line of a legatee or devisee, deceased before the testator, shall take the estate bequeathed or devised, in the same manner the legatee or devisee would have taken it if he had survived." Under the simultaneous-death chapter, a person who is not established by clear and convincing evidence to have survived another by 120 hours is deemed to have predeceased that person, where title to or devolution of property depends on survivorship, except as RSA 563:6 provides and except where applying the rule would result in the state taking an intestate estate (563:2).

The slayer rule (2025)

A 2025 law created RSA chapter 562-A, effective July 15, 2025. Under 562-A:2, "An individual who murders the decedent forfeits all benefits under this title with respect to the decedent's estate." Under 562-A:3, the murder of the decedent revokes any revocable disposition or appointment of property to the killer in a governing instrument executed by the decedent, any power of appointment conferred on the killer, and any nomination of the killer "to serve in any fiduciary or representative capacity, including as a personal representative, executor, trustee, or agent," and severs joint tenancies with right of survivorship into equal tenancies in common.

"Murder" for this chapter means first-degree murder under RSA 630:1-a, second-degree murder committed knowingly under RSA 630:1-b, I(a), or a reasonably equivalent offense elsewhere; it excludes conduct that could be charged as causing or aiding a suicide under RSA 630:4 (562-A:1, III). The definitions section was amended in 2026 (2026, 4:7, effective March 3, 2026).

Limits on what a New Hampshire will can do

Spouse's waiver of the will. A surviving spouse can elect to take a statutory portion instead of what the will gives. Under RSA 560:10, when a spouse dies testate and the surviving spouse "has elected to waive the homestead right, if any, and the provisions of the will in his or her favor, if any, and has elected to claim his or her rights hereunder," the surviving spouse takes a portion "of the estate remaining after the payment of debts and expenses of administration":

• If children of the deceased (by any marriage) or issue of deceased children survive, "one-third part of the personalty and one-third part of the real estate" (560:10, I).
• If no children or issue survive but a parent or sibling does, $10,000 in value of personalty and $10,000 in value of real estate, "and also one-half of the remainder above ten thousand dollars in each" (560:10, II).
• If no children, issue, parent or sibling survive, $10,000 plus $2,000 for each full year of marriage, and one-half in value of the remainder above that sum, in the personalty, "and the same in the real estate" (560:10, III).

The rest of the estate passes under the will, "provided that the surviving spouse shall take nothing under the will" (560:10, IV). The waiver "shall be made in writing and shall be filed in the probate office within six months after the appointment of an executor or administrator, and not afterwards, unless by permission of the judge of probate for good cause shown," and must be recorded in the county registry of deeds where real estate is involved (560:14).

Children born or adopted after the will. RSA 551:10 was rewritten effective January 1, 2023 (2022, 261:1). It now protects a child "born or adopted after the execution of the will" whom the will fails to provide for:

• If the testator had no child living when the will was signed, the omitted child receives an intestate share, unless the will left all or substantially all of the estate to the child's other parent, who survives and is entitled to take under the will (551:10, II(a)).
• If the testator had living children and the will gave property to one or more of them, the omitted child shares only in the devises to those children, as if all the children had been given equal shares (551:10, II(b)).
• Neither rule applies "if it appears from the will that the omission was intentional" (551:10, III), and a living child left out solely because the testator believed the child to be dead is treated as an omitted after-born or after-adopted child (551:10, IV).

No-contest clauses. Under RSA 551:22, II, a no-contest provision in a will "shall be enforceable according to the express terms of the no-contest provision without regard to the presence or absence of probable cause for, or the beneficiary's good or bad faith in, taking the action." It "shall be unenforceable to the extent that the will is invalid because of fraud, duress, undue influence, lack of testamentary capacity, or any other reason," and, in an action solely challenging an executor's or other fiduciary's acts, to the extent the fiduciary breached fiduciary duties. Paragraph III exempts listed actions, including actions brought by the executor, settlement agreements, actions to decide whether a filing is a contest, construction actions brought by a beneficiary, and certain actions by the attorney general involving charitable interests.

After a death: delivering the will

Under RSA 552:2, "Every person having the custody of a will shall, within 30 days after he has knowledge of the decease of the testator, deliver it to the court of probate, or to the person named therein as executor." The named executor must file the will in the probate court within 30 days after the death or after learning of being named, whichever is later, and must then either have it proved or file a written refusal if the estate has assets (552:3). A person who neglects these duties, unless excused by the probate court, forfeits $20 for each month of neglect after the 30 days, recoverable by any person interested in the will (552:4).

New Hampshire once allowed wills to be deposited with the register of probate during the testator's lifetime; those sections, RSA 551:18 to 551:21, were repealed in 1977.

Revocable living trusts in New Hampshire

The trust code

New Hampshire's trust statute is RSA chapter 564-B: "This chapter may be cited as the New Hampshire Trust Code" (564-B:1-101). It was enacted by 2004, 130:1, effective October 1, 2004. Under 564-B:11-1104(a), on its effective date the chapter applies "to all trusts created before, on, or after its effective date," subject to the exceptions in that section. The code defines "revocable," as applied to a trust, as "revocable by the settlor without the consent of the trustee or a person holding an adverse interest" (564-B:1-103).

Creating a trust

A trust may be created by transfer of property to a trustee during the settlor's lifetime or by will or other disposition at death, by the owner's declaration that the owner holds identifiable property as trustee, by exercise of a power of appointment in favor of a trustee, or by court judgment or decree (564-B:4-401). Under 564-B:4-402(a), a trust is created only if:

1. the settlor has capacity to create a trust;
2. the settlor indicates an intention to create the trust;
3. the trust has a definite beneficiary, or is a charitable trust, a trust for the care of an animal or a trust for a noncharitable purpose;
4. the trustee has duties to perform; and
5. "the same person is not the sole trustee, the sole current beneficiary and the sole remainder beneficiary."

The section adds no witness or notary requirement. "Except as required by a statute other than this chapter, a trust need not be evidenced by a trust instrument, but the creation of an oral trust and its terms may be established only by clear and convincing evidence" (564-B:4-407).

Capacity

Under 564-B:6-601, "The capacity required to create, amend, revoke, or add property to a revocable trust, or to direct the actions of the trustee of a revocable trust, is the same as that required to make a will."

Revocable by default, with a date limit

Section 564-B:6-602(a) provides: "Unless the terms of a trust expressly provide that the trust is irrevocable, the settlor may revoke or amend the trust. This subsection does not apply to a trust created under an instrument executed before the effective date of this chapter." The chapter's effective date is October 1, 2004.

Where a revocable trust has more than one settlor, community property in the trust may be revoked by either spouse alone but amended only by both, and for other property each settlor may revoke or amend the portion attributable to that settlor's contribution, with prompt notice by the trustee to the other settlors (564-B:6-602(b)).

How to revoke or amend a revocable trust

Under 564-B:6-602(c), the settlor may revoke or amend a revocable trust:

"(1) by substantial compliance with a method provided in the terms of the trust; or (2) by any other method manifesting clear and convincing evidence of the settlor's intent if the terms of the trust do not provide a method or do not expressly prohibit methods other than methods provided in the terms of the trust." (RSA 564-B:6-602(c))

An agent under a power of attorney may exercise the settlor's powers to revoke, amend or make distributions "only to the extent expressly authorized by both the terms of the trust and the power of attorney," and an agent's revocation or amendment takes effect "only upon the trustee's receipt of notice of the amendment or revocation" (564-B:6-602(e)). The New Hampshire power of attorney laws page covers powers of attorney generally.

Creditors

Under 564-B:5-505(a), "During the settlor's life, the property of a revocable trust is subject to claims of the settlor's creditors regardless of whether the trust contains a spendthrift provision." After the settlor's death, property of a trust that was revocable immediately before death is subject to the settlor's creditors' claims, the costs of administering the estate, and the expenses of the settlor's funeral and disposal of remains, to the extent the probate estate is inadequate to satisfy them, subject to the settlor's right to direct the source of payment and with exceptions for certain life insurance proceeds under RSA 408:6 and claims barred under 564-B:5-508 (564-B:5-505(b)-(d)).

Certification of trust

Under 564-B:10-1013(a), "Instead of furnishing a copy of the trust instrument to a person other than a beneficiary, the trustee may furnish to the person a certification of trust" stating, among other things, that the trust exists and the date the instrument was executed, the identity of the settlor and the acting trustee, the trustee's powers, and "the revocability or irrevocability of the trust and the identity of any person holding a power to revoke the trust." The certification must state that the trust has not been revoked, modified or amended in a way that would make it incorrect (10-1013(c)), and a person who relies on it without knowing it is incorrect "is not liable to any person for so acting" (10-1013(f)).

After the settlor dies: notice and the contest deadline

Under 564-B:8-813(c)(3), no later than 60 days after the trustee learns that a formerly revocable trust has become irrevocable, that the trust has been initially funded and that the last surviving settlor has died, the trustee must notify the qualified beneficiaries who have reached age 21, and those with the rights of a qualified beneficiary, of the trust's existence, the right to request a copy of the trust instrument and the right to a trustee's report.

The contest deadline is in 564-B:4-406(b). A person may bring a proceeding to contest a trust's validity within the earlier of:

• for a trust that was revocable at the settlor's death, "3 years after the settlor's death";
• for an irrevocable trust, including a formerly revocable trust that has become irrevocable, 3 years after the trustee sent the beneficiary the notice described in 564-B:8-813(c)(3); or
• 180 days after the trustee sent the person a copy of the trust instrument and a notice of the trust's existence, the trustee's name, address and telephone number, and the time allowed for a contest.

The trustee "may send the notice described in subsection (b)(3) for purposes of commencing the 180-day limitation period, but the trustee does not have a duty to do so" (564-B:4-406(c)). Section 564-B:6-604 applies these rules to a trust that was revocable at the settlor's death. During life, a settlor may also ask a court to determine the validity of a trust he or she created, if the trust instrument expressly provides that New Hampshire law governs its validity, interpretation and administration and the trust's principal place of administration is in New Hampshire (564-B:4-406(d)).

Trust no-contest clauses

The trust rule mirrors the will rule. Under 564-B:10-1014(b), a no-contest provision "shall be enforceable according to the express terms of the no-contest provision without regard to the presence or absence of probable cause for, or the beneficiary's good or bad faith in, taking the action," but is unenforceable to the extent the trust is invalid because of fraud, duress, undue influence, lack of testamentary capacity or any other reason, with exceptions listed in subsection (c).

Pour-over wills

New Hampshire's pour-over rule is RSA 563-A:1, effective January 1, 1997. A will may leave property to the trustee of a trust established during the testator's lifetime, or at death by the testator's devise, "if the trust is identified in the testator's will and its terms are set forth in a written instrument, other than a will, executed before, concurrently with, or after the execution of the testator's will or in another individual's will if that other individual has predeceased the testator, regardless of the existence, size, or character of the corpus of the trust" (563-A:1, I).

"The devise or bequest 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 its terms, including amendments made before or after the testator's death (563-A:1, II), and "a revocation or termination of the trust before the testator's death causes the devise or bequest to lapse" (563-A:1, III).

New Hampshire wills and trusts at a glance

Recent changes

• RSA 562-A (2025). The slayer chapter took effect July 15, 2025 (2025, 237:1); its definitions section was amended effective March 3, 2026 (2026, 4:7).
• RSA 551:10 (2023). The omitted-child rule was rewritten effective January 1, 2023 (2022, 261:1).
• RSA 456-B:6-a (2022). General remote notarization for remotely located individuals took effect February 6, 2022.
• RSA 551:2, III (2020). The attorney-supervised remote-witnessing rule was added in 2020 for wills executed on or after March 23, 2020, and amended in 2021.

Making a will in practice

The site's free New Hampshire will-maker tool can help draft a basic will. Whatever produces the document, signing must follow RSA 551:2: two or more credible witnesses in the testator's presence, and remote witnessing only through the attorney-supervised procedure in 551:2, III. Complex estates, blended families, business interests or tax questions are reasons to consult a lawyer licensed in New Hampshire. The tool is not legal advice.

Members of the armed forces have a 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
• New Hampshire probate
• New Hampshire small estate affidavit
• New Hampshire power of attorney laws

This article provides general legal information about New Hampshire law on wills and revocable trusts as of 2026-10-20. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in New Hampshire or the New Hampshire probate court.

Last updated: 2026-10-20.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many witnesses does a will need in New Hampshire?

Two or more credible witnesses, who attest to the testator's signature at the testator's request and in the testator's presence (RSA 551:2, I). New Hampshire has no exception for an unwitnessed handwritten will made in the state.

Does a will have to be notarized in New Hampshire?

No. RSA 551:2 does not require a notary. A notary, justice of the peace or other oath officer is used to make the will self-proved under 551:2-a, by a sworn acknowledgment of the testator and witnesses following their signatures.

Is a handwritten will valid in New Hampshire?

Only if it is signed by two or more credible witnesses like any other will (RSA 551:2); chapter 551 has no holographic-will section. A will made in another state that is valid where it was executed may be proved and allowed in New Hampshire (551:5).

Can witnesses sign a will remotely in New Hampshire?

Only for wills executed on or after March 23, 2020, and only if the testator, witnesses and a notarial officer who is the drafting New Hampshire attorney, a supervised New Hampshire attorney or a supervised paralegal can communicate simultaneously by sight and sound when all sign (RSA 551:2, III). The rule does not allow an electronic will.

Can I make an electronic will in New Hampshire?

No. RSA 551:2 requires a will in writing, and 551:2, III(b) states that the remote-witnessing rule does not allow an electronic will or codicil.

Are oral wills valid in New Hampshire?

RSA 551:2 requires a will in writing. RSA 551:15 preserves for a soldier in actual military service, or a mariner or seaman at sea, the power to dispose of movables and personal estate as he might heretofore have done, and 551:16 sets conditions for nuncupative wills where the personal estate exceeds $100; see the oral-wills section above.

Does divorce revoke a will in New Hampshire?

Divorce or annulment revokes gifts, powers of appointment and nominations of the former spouse as executor, trustee, conservator or guardian in the will, unless the will expressly provides otherwise (RSA 551:13, II); the rest of the will stands. Separate rules cover trusts with a sole grantor who reserved a power to revoke and transfer on death deeds; see the divorce section above.

Is a living trust revocable in New Hampshire?

For a trust created under an instrument executed on or after October 1, 2004, yes unless its terms expressly say it is irrevocable (RSA 564-B:6-602(a)). The default does not apply to a trust created under an instrument executed before that date.

How long do you have to contest a revocable trust in New Hampshire?

For a trust that was revocable at the settlor's death, within the earlier of 3 years after the death or 180 days after the trustee sent a copy of the trust instrument and the required notice (RSA 564-B:4-406(b)). The trustee may send that notice but is not required to.

Can a spouse be left out of a will in New Hampshire?

A surviving spouse may waive the will and take a statutory portion under RSA 560:10, such as one-third of the estate remaining after debts and administration expenses when children or their issue survive. The written waiver must be filed within six months after an executor or administrator is appointed, unless the judge allows later filing for good cause (560:14).