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New Hampshire lets your witnesses watch you sign over video — but only if the lawyer who drafted your will is running the ceremony. RSA 551:2(III) is one of the most specific provisions in American will law: remote witnessing is allowed, the witnesses need not even be in New Hampshire, and the will may be signed in counterparts — provided a notarial officer participates who is the New Hampshire attorney who drafted the document, another NH attorney under that attorney’s supervision, or a paralegal supervised by either. There is no fourth option, which means a will you wrote yourself or bought online cannot use it. New Hampshire has no estate tax and no inheritance tax. Every rule below cites the New Hampshire Revised Statutes.
Most New Hampshire adults can finish a legally valid will in under an hour.
Two credible witnesses, a signature, and clear wishes — that’s the whole requirement. An online service like Trust & Will prepares a New Hampshire-specific will with the witness pages ready to sign. Plan on signing with your witnesses in the room; the remote route below is reserved for attorney-drafted wills.
Disclosure: we earn a commission if you buy through the Trust & Will links here, at no extra cost to you. Complex situations belong with an attorney and we say so below.
New Hampshire Will Requirements (2026)
| Requirement | New Hampshire rule | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| In writing | Required — and RSA 551:2(III)(b) expressly forecloses electronic wills | § 551:2(I)(b) |
| Signed | By you, or by some person at your express direction in your presence | § 551:2(I)(c) |
| Witnessed | 2 or more credible witnesses who, at your request and in your presence, attest to your signature | § 551:2(I)(d) |
| Notarized | Not required for validity — and no seal is required either | §§ 551:2(II), 551:2-a |
Who can make a will: every person of the age of eighteen years and married persons under that age, of sane mind (§ 551:1). New Hampshire uses the older phrase “sane mind” rather than “sound mind,” and it lets a married minor make a will — a route also open in Oregon and Idaho.
The current requirements apply to all wills executed on or after January 1, 1993 (§ 551:2(II)).
The Attorney-Supervised Remote Signing Rule
Most states that relaxed witnessing during 2020 either let it lapse or turned it into a full electronic wills act. New Hampshire did something narrower and more interesting, and it is still on the books.
Under RSA 551:2(III)(a), a witness is deemed to be in your presence if the witness, you, the other witness or witnesses, and a notarial officer “can communicate simultaneously by sight and sound through an electronic device or process at the time all of them sign the will.” The will “may be signed in multiple counterparts,” and a witness need not be physically present within the state of New Hampshire.
Everything turns on who that notarial officer is. The statute permits exactly three:
- the attorney, licensed to practice law in New Hampshire and in good standing, who drafted the will or codicil;
- another attorney, licensed in New Hampshire and in good standing, under the drafting attorney’s supervision; or
- a paralegal under the supervision of either such attorney.
Not an ordinary notary. Not a justice of the peace. Not an out-of-state lawyer. Not a lawyer who had nothing to do with the document. The provision is tied to the person who drafted the will.
What that means for a will you didn’t get from a lawyer. If you write your own will, or buy one from an online service, there is no drafting attorney to run the ceremony — so the remote route is unavailable and your two witnesses must be physically with you when they attest. We link to an online will service on this page, and this is the one state in the country where we have to tell you that the state’s convenience provision does not reach it. That is not a defect in the product; it is how RSA 551:2(III) is written. Wyoming allows the same remote witnessing with no attorney gate at all.
Two further limits worth reading carefully. The paragraph applies only to wills executed on or after March 23, 2020. And it closes with a sentence that removes any ambiguity:
“Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to allow an electronic will or codicil.” — RSA § 551:2(III)(b)
The document itself is still paper. Only the presence requirement bends.
Handwritten and Electronic Wills Are Both Invalid in New Hampshire
Handwritten wills. The word “holographic” does not appear anywhere in RSA chapter 551. Section 551:2 contains no handwriting exception and there is no separate provision, so a will written entirely in your own hand and signed is still invalid without two credible witnesses. New Hampshire also has no harmless-error statute of the kind Oregon adopted in 2025, so a defective document cannot be rescued on proof of intent.
Electronic wills. Not authorized, and expressly so — see the sentence quoted above. New Hampshire is one of very few states that permits remote witnessing and forecloses electronic wills in the same subsection.
Wills made elsewhere are honored generously. Under § 551:5(I), a will made out of state and valid where it was executed may be proved and allowed in New Hampshire and is as effective as if executed here. And § 551:5(II) adds something most states omit: a will that is self-proved under the law of the place of execution is self-proved in New Hampshire and shall be allowed as such by the probate court. If you moved here with a properly executed will, you very likely do not need to redo it — though you should review whether its terms still match your life.
Do Not Let a Beneficiary Witness Your Will
This rule is stricter in New Hampshire than in most states, and it is easy to trip over at a kitchen-table signing.
Under RSA § 551:3, any beneficial devise or legacy to a subscribing witness — or to that witness’s spouse — is void unless there are 2 other subscribing witnesses. A provision for the payment of a debt is not void and does not disqualify the creditor as a witness.
Compare the usual approach: Nebraska merely caps an interested witness’s gift at what they would have inherited by intestacy, and Delaware says an interested witness does not invalidate anything at all. New Hampshire voids the gift outright. Ask two neighbors, not two beneficiaries — and remember the rule reaches a witness’s husband or wife too.
Dying Without a Will in New Hampshire: Three Different Dollar Amounts
Most states use a single preferential figure. New Hampshire grades it by exactly how blended the family is, using $250,000, $150,000 and $100,000:
| Your situation | What your spouse receives |
|---|---|
| No issue and no parent survive you | The entire intestate estate (§ 561:1(I)(a)) |
| No issue, but a parent survives | First $250,000 + 3/4 of the balance (§ 561:1(I)(c)) |
| All your issue are your spouse’s, and your spouse has no others | First $250,000 + 1/2 of the balance (§ 561:1(I)(b)) |
| All your issue are shared, but your spouse has other issue | First $150,000 + 1/2 of the balance (§ 561:1(I)(d)) |
| You have issue who aren’t your spouse’s | First $100,000 + 1/2 of the balance (§ 561:1(I)(e)) |
Two things people get wrong here.
First, even in the best case with children — every child shared, no outside children on either side — your spouse does not take the whole estate. They take $250,000 plus half, and your children take the rest. Maine, next door, gives the whole estate to a spouse in that situation.
Second, the ladder descends by whose outside children they are. Your spouse’s children from an earlier relationship cost them $100,000 of preferential share; your children from an earlier relationship cost them $150,000. New Hampshire prices the two situations differently, and almost nobody knows it.
New Hampshire Has No Estate Tax and No Inheritance Tax
This is the question New Hampshire residents search for most, so here is the plain answer: there is no New Hampshire inheritance tax and no New Hampshire estate tax.
The Legacy and Succession Tax (RSA 86) was repealed effective for deaths occurring on or after January 1, 2003, as was the Transfer Tax Upon the Personal Property of Nonresident Decedents (RSA 89). And for deaths on or after January 1, 2005, the New Hampshire estate tax return is no longer required, following the federal repeal of the state death tax credit that the old NH tax was measured by.
Only the federal estate tax can reach a New Hampshire estate, and it applies to very few. That makes New Hampshire markedly different from Maine, whose estate tax starts at $7,160,000 in 2026, and from Connecticut and Hawaii. Compare the states in our state-by-state comparison.
What a Will Costs in New Hampshire
| Route | Typical cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Handwritten, no witnesses | $0 | Invalid in New Hampshire — and no harmless-error statute to save it |
| Online service | $199 individual / $299 couple | NH-specific will with witness pages — sign it with both witnesses physically present |
| New Hampshire attorney | Flat fees vary — the Seacoast and Nashua area run above the North Country | Custom drafting, and the only route that unlocks the RSA 551:2(III) remote signing |
Online pricing verified against Trust & Will’s published rates (August 2026). The New Hampshire Bar Association publishes no fee survey, so we quote no attorney figures we can’t source. See how New Hampshire compares with the rest of the country for national cost ranges and a state-by-state table of will requirements.
What a New Hampshire Will Does Not Do
1. A will does not avoid probate. New Hampshire probate is a circuit court process on the public record. For the comparison, see what a living trust costs in New Hampshire and our guide to avoiding probate.
2. A will does not remove your spouse’s right to claim against it. New Hampshire gives a surviving spouse a statutory right to waive the will and take a share instead. Disinheriting a spouse is not something a will accomplishes on its own.
3. A will does not cover incapacity, and does not override beneficiary designations. Pair it with a durable power of attorney and an advance directive — see the five documents every family needs — and keep your beneficiary forms current.
Will vs. Trust for New Hampshire Families
Every New Hampshire adult needs a will. There is no fallback format here — no handwritten will, no electronic will, no harmless error — so an improvised document simply fails. And the intestacy ladder means that without a will your spouse shares the estate with your children even when every child is one you had together.
With no state estate tax and no inheritance tax, the New Hampshire trust question is about probate avoidance, privacy, and keeping a lake house or family land from fracturing among heirs — not about tax. Start with Trust vs. Will: Which Does Your Family Need? and the numbers in our New Hampshire living trust cost guide.
If the will is what you need today, Trust & Will’s New Hampshire package includes the witness pages, guardianship nominations, and healthcare documents — build your New Hampshire will here.
FAQ
Does a will have to be notarized in New Hampshire?
No. Validity takes your signature and 2 or more credible witnesses who attest to your signature at your request and in your presence (§ 551:2). No seal is required either. The notary appears only in the optional self-proving affidavit (§ 551:2-a).
Can my witnesses watch me sign over video in New Hampshire?
Only if a qualifying notarial officer participates — and RSA § 551:2(III) limits that to the New Hampshire attorney who drafted the will, another NH attorney under that attorney’s supervision, or a paralegal supervised by either. All participants must be able to communicate simultaneously by sight and sound while signing, and the will may be signed in counterparts. A self-written or online-service will has no drafting attorney, so it cannot use this route.
Are handwritten wills legal in New Hampshire?
No. The word “holographic” does not appear in RSA chapter 551, and § 551:2 has no handwriting exception. A handwritten will still needs two credible witnesses.
Can I make an electronic will in New Hampshire?
No. RSA § 551:2(III)(b) states that nothing in the remote-witnessing paragraph “shall be deemed to allow an electronic will or codicil.” The document must be paper.
Can a beneficiary witness my will in New Hampshire?
They can, but it may cost them their inheritance. Under § 551:3 a devise or legacy to a subscribing witness, or to that witness’s spouse, is void unless there are two other subscribing witnesses. Use disinterested witnesses.
What happens if I die without a will in New Hampshire?
Your spouse takes everything only if you leave no issue and no parent. Otherwise the statute grades the preferential amount: $250,000 plus three-quarters if a parent survives and you have no issue; $250,000 plus half if all your issue are your spouse’s and they have no others; $150,000 plus half if your spouse has outside children; $100,000 plus half if you do (§ 561:1).
Does New Hampshire have an inheritance tax?
No. New Hampshire’s Legacy and Succession Tax was repealed for deaths on or after January 1, 2003, and no New Hampshire estate tax return has been required for deaths on or after January 1, 2005. There is no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax.
New Hampshire Law Cited on This Page
- RSA § 551:1 — testators
- RSA § 551:2 — requirements, including the attorney-supervised remote witnessing rule at paragraph III
- RSA § 551:2-a — self-proved wills
- RSA § 551:3 — interested witness
- RSA § 551:5 — will made outside the state
- RSA § 561:1 — distribution upon intestacy
- NH Department of Revenue Administration — inheritance and estate tax
Update log — August 2026: page created. Execution, remote-witnessing, interested-witness, foreign-will and intestacy rules verified against the official New Hampshire Revised Statutes published by the General Court; tax position from the Department of Revenue Administration. Reviewed when New Hampshire law changes.