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Estate plan requirements
Kansas
Everything your estate plan needs to be valid in Kansas: execution requirements, the documents we generate, statutory citations, and the exact wording our generators insert.
Requirements at a glance
Document
Witnesses
Notary
Will
2 required
Recommended
Living trust
None required
Recommended
Power of attorney
None required
Required
Healthcare directive
2 required, or notary
Alternative to witnesses
Your complete Kansas estate plan
Will, living trust, durable power of attorney, healthcare directive, and six more documents, all valid in Kansas once signed the way Kansas requires.
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Two or more competent witnesses must attest and subscribe the will in the presence of the testator, and each witness must have either seen the testator sign the will or heard the testator acknowledge it
Notarization: Recommended
Not legally required, but recommended for self-proving affidavit
Holographic will: Not valid
Kansas does not recognize handwritten wills without witnesses
Self-proving affidavit: Available
Allows the will to be admitted to probate without witness testimony
State-specific notes
•Sign the will at the end, after the last article. Kansas requires the will to be signed at the end by the testator, or by another person in the testator's presence and by the testator's express direction (Kan. Stat. §59-606).
•Tell your executor that a petition to probate the will of a Kansas resident must be filed within six months after death, subject to limited statutory exceptions; a will not offered in time cannot pass property (Kan. Stat. §59-617).
•If you marry and then have or adopt a child after signing this will, the entire will is revoked and you will need a new one; a divorce revokes only the provisions in favor of the former spouse (K.S.A. §59-610).
ViewSelf-proving affidavit wording▾
State of Kansas
County of _______________ ss.
Before me, the undersigned authority, on this day personally appeared {testatorName}, _______________, and _______________, known to me to be the testator and the witnesses, respectively, whose names are subscribed to the annexed or foregoing instrument in their respective capacities, and, all of such persons being by me first duly sworn, such {testatorName}, testator, declared to me and to the witnesses in my presence that such instrument is the testator's last will and testament, and that the testator had willingly made and executed it as the testator's free and voluntary act and deed for the purposes therein expressed. Such witnesses, each on the witness' oath stated to me, in the presence and hearing of the testator, that the testator had declared to them that such instrument is the testator's last will and testament, and that the testator executed same as such and wanted each witness to sign it as a witness. Upon their oaths each witness stated further that they did sign the will as witnesses in the presence of each other and in the presence of the testator and at the testator's request, and that the testator at that time possessed the rights of majority, was of sound mind and under no restraint.
___________________________________
{testatorName}, Testator
___________________________________
Witness
___________________________________
Witness
Subscribed, acknowledged and sworn to before me by {testatorName}, testator, and _______________ and _______________, witnesses, this _____ day of ______________, A.D. ________.
(seal)
(Signed) ___________________________________
___________________________________
(Official capacity of officer)
Kan. Stat. §59-604: a beneficial devise or bequest to a subscribing witness is void unless there are two other competent subscribing witnesses who are not beneficiaries under the will. A witness who would have inherited had there been no will keeps that intestate share up to the value of the voided gift. The will itself remains valid. Practical effect on a two-witness Kansas will: there are never two other disinterested witnesses in addition to an interested one, so a gift to a witness is void except to the extent of the witness's intestate share.
2
Living Trust
Witnesses: None required
No formal execution requirements beyond settlor signature; notarization strongly recommended when funding real property
Notarization: Recommended
Not legally required for the trust document, but needed to transfer real property
Certification of trust: K.S.A. §58a-1013
Kansas lets your trustee prove the trust to a bank, brokerage, title company, insurer, or transfer agent with a short certification instead of the trust itself. It states that the trust exists, who the trustee is, and what the trustee may do, and it leaves out who inherits and what each person receives. Will.com generates the Kansas Certification of Trust with your trust, built to the contents that section requires. Sign it in front of the same notary, at the same sitting as the trust. The same section also says what happens if someone demands the trust itself anyway. K.S.A. §58a-1013(h) provides that a person making a demand for the trust instrument in addition to a certification of trust or excerpts is liable for damages if the court determines that the person did not act in good faith in demanding the trust instrument.
3
Durable Power of Attorney
Witnesses: None required
No witnesses required for power of attorney
Notarization: Required
Notarization is required for a valid durable power of attorney
State-specific notes
•Signed by the principal, and dated and acknowledged in the manner prescribed by the revised uniform law on notarial acts (Kan. Stat. §58-652(a)(3)). If the principal is physically unable to sign but is otherwise competent and conscious, an adult designee may sign the principal's name in the presence of the principal and at the principal's specific direction expressed in the presence of a notary public, after which the document is acknowledged under the revised uniform law on notarial acts with the same effect as if the principal had signed.
•Durability is NOT presumed. The document must be denominated a 'durable power of attorney' and contain one of the statutory durability statements (K.S.A. §58-652(a), statements at §58-652(a)(2)): (A) 'This is a durable power of attorney and the authority of my attorney in fact shall not terminate if I become disabled or in the event of later uncertainty as to whether I am dead or alive,' or (B) 'this is a durable power of attorney and the authority of my attorney in fact, when effective, shall not terminate or be void or voidable if I am or become disabled or in the event of later uncertainty as to whether I am dead or alive.'
•A POA executed on or after July 1, 2021 is deemed sufficient if in substantial compliance with the form set forth by the Kansas Judicial Council. K.S.A. §58-652(f).
4
Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions
Kan. Stat. §58-625 et seq. (DPOA-HC), whose statutory form is at K.S.A. §58-632; K.S.A. §65-28,101 et seq. (Natural Death Act / Living Will), whose declaration form is at K.S.A. §65-28,103
Witnesses: 2 required, or notary
Kansas accepts either 2 witnesses or notarization
Notarization: Accepted as alternative
Both the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care (K.S.A. §58-629(e)) and the Living Will / Natural Death Act declaration (K.S.A. §65-28,103(a)(4)) provide a disjunctive execution rule: the document may be signed in the presence of two qualifying adult witnesses OR acknowledged before a notary public. The notary block below is therefore an alternative to (not a supplement to) witness attestation. The DPOA-HC statutory form is set out by statute (K.S.A. §58-632).
State-specific notes
•Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care witnesses: two witnesses at least 18 years of age, none of whom is the agent, related to the principal by blood, marriage or adoption, entitled to any portion of the principal's estate by intestate succession or under any will or codicil of the principal, or directly financially responsible for the principal's health care (K.S.A. §58-629(e)(1)).
•Living Will / Natural Death Act declaration witnesses: two or more witnesses at least 18 years of age, none of whom is the person who signed the declaration on behalf of and at the direction of the declarant, related to the declarant by blood or marriage, entitled to any portion of the declarant's estate by intestate succession or under any will or codicil, or directly financially responsible for the declarant's medical care (K.S.A. §65-28,103(a)(4)(A)). Adoption is not a disqualifier for this document. Using two witnesses who satisfy both lists at once satisfies each instrument.
•Neither the treating health care provider, nor an employee of the treating health care provider, nor an employee, owner, director or officer of a hospital, psychiatric hospital or psychiatric treatment facility, hospice, nursing home or similar institution may be designated as the agent (K.S.A. §58-629(d), reading the facility class from subsection (a)(2) of that section). 'Health care provider' is defined broadly and reaches licensed nurses, physician assistants, therapists, pharmacists and the facility itself, not only physicians (K.S.A. §65-4921(c)). Two exceptions apply: the person is related to the principal by blood, marriage or adoption, or the principal and agent are members of the same community of persons bound by vows to a religious life who conduct or assist in religious services and regularly engage in religious, benevolent, charitable or educational ministrations or health care services.
ViewWitness disqualification recital▾
This directive combines a durable power of attorney for health care decisions under K.S.A. §58-629 with a Kansas Natural Death Act declaration under K.S.A. §65-28,103, and each imposes its own witness rule. Under §58-629(e)(1) neither of the two witnesses may be the agent, related to the principal by blood, marriage, or adoption, entitled to any portion of the principal's estate under the laws of intestate succession or under any will or codicil, or directly financially responsible for the principal's health care. Under §65-28,103(a)(4)(A) neither witness may be the person who signed the declaration on behalf of and at the direction of the declarant, related to the declarant by blood or marriage, entitled to any portion of the declarant's estate by intestate succession or under any will or codicil, or directly financially responsible for the declarant's medical care. Witnesses must be at least 18 under both. Kansas does not disqualify a treating health care provider or its employee from witnessing: the §58-629(d) bar on the treating provider, an employee of the treating provider, and an employee, owner, director, or officer of a facility described in §58-629(a)(2) restricts who may be designated as agent, not who may witness. Acknowledgment before a notary public is a statutory alternative to witnesses for both portions, under §58-629(e)(2) and §65-28,103(a)(4)(B).
Subscription
6 more documents with a subscription
$29/year unlocks the documents below alongside the four free ones above. Your answers and documents are saved privately to your account, encrypted in your browser, so you can revise them any time life changes.
Disposition of Remains Authorization
Names the agent who controls funeral, burial, or cremation decisions, with optional preferences.
HIPAA Authorization
Stand-alone PHI release that survives death for the period you specify, separate from the in-life authorization in your healthcare directive. The free packet includes it too whenever it has a healthcare directive.
Designation of Guardian and Conservator
Pre-designates the person you want a court to appoint as Guardian of the Person and Conservator of the Estate under the Kansas Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship and Other Protective Arrangements Act (K.S.A. §59-30,101 et seq.) if protective proceedings are ever needed. Kansas uses 'Guardian' for the person role and 'Conservator' for the estate role.
Business Succession Declaration
Identifies your interests in any closely-held businesses and how they should be transferred or wound down.
Real-Estate Retitling Checklist
Step-by-step instructions for transferring real-property deeds into your trust so the trust actually controls those assets.
Letter of Instruction
Non-binding personal note to your executor and family: where to find documents, account access, funeral wishes, and other practical guidance.
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State-specific signing guide
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Covers real estate, business, digital, and funeral wishes
Kansas has not adopted electronic will legislation. A traditional paper will with physical signatures is required.
Digital assets access
Kansas has adopted RUFADAA (2017). This is the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which lets your executor, trustee, or agent access your email, social media, cryptocurrency wallets, cloud storage, and other digital accounts after death or incapacity.
To take advantage of RUFADAA, your will, trust, or power of attorney must explicitly grant authority to access digital assets. Without explicit authorization, service providers can deny access even to a court-appointed executor.
Remote online notarization (RON)
Kansas authorized RON in 2022.
Will
Not allowed
Trust
Allowed
POA
Allowed
Remote online witnessing (ROW)
For the paper documents Will.com produces, Kansas does not allow remote online witnessing. Witnesses must be physically present when you sign.
Will
Not allowed
Trust
Not allowed
POA
Not allowed
HC Directive
Not allowed
This information is general in nature and not legal advice. Laws change. Consult a licensed estate planning attorney in Kansas for guidance specific to your situation.