Estate plan

Vermont

Everything to plan your estate in Vermont: execution requirements, the documents we generate, statutory citations, and the exact wording our generators insert.

Will

Trust

—

POA

HC Directive

E-will

Not adopted

RON

Limited

Since 2022, not all documents

ROW

Not allowed

Remote online witnessing

Community property

Minimum age

NW + N = N witnesses + notarizationNW = N witnesses, no notarizationN = notarization, no witnesses— = no formal requirements

Will

Vt. Stat. tit. 14, §1 et seq.

Witnesses: 2 required

Two witnesses must attest and subscribe in the presence of the testator and each other. 14 V.S.A. §5 (as amended by 2017 No. 195 (Adj. Sess.), § 1 and 2019 No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. April 28, 2020)

Witnesses sign together: Required

Vermont requires the attesting witnesses to sign in each other's presence; signing within a reasonable time of one another is not sufficient.

Notarization: Recommended

Not legally required, but recommended for self-proving affidavit

Holographic will: Not valid

Vermont 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

•COVID-era remote presence under 14 V.S.A. §5(b) was narrow: it deemed witnesses to be in the testator's presence only while the Emergency Remote Notarial Acts rules were in effect and only via the §108 self-proving path. Do not generalize §5(b) beyond that window for new executions.

•Remote online notarization (§5379) requires the notary to hold a special commission endorsement under §5341(d); not every Vermont notary is authorized to perform remote acts.

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

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

•Acknowledgment before a notary public is the formality that creates a presumption of genuineness under 14 V.S.A. §4005. Under 27 V.S.A. §305, a deed or other conveyance made by virtue of a power of attorney has no effect unless the power of attorney itself is signed, acknowledged, and recorded in the office where the deed is required to be recorded; a non-acknowledged POA remains valid between principal and agent under the Vermont UPOAA but is commercially unusable.

•Durability is presumed unless the instrument states otherwise. 14 V.S.A. §4004

•An optional witness signature line is provided as a courtesy for any POA the agent will use to sign or record a deed (Vermont real-estate conveyance practice often expects, but does not require, an attesting witness). Leaving the optional witness line blank does not affect the validity of the POA.

•Practical-acceptance rule: while §4005 treats notarization as the formality that creates a presumption of genuineness rather than a strict validity requirement, Vermont banks, brokerages, and title companies almost universally refuse to honor an unacknowledged POA, and 27 V.S.A. §305 conditions effectiveness of any conveyance executed by the agent on a recorded, acknowledged POA. Treat notarization as required for the POA to be commercially usable; an unacknowledged Vermont POA fails at the moment it is needed (real-estate deed signing, bank transaction, brokerage rollover) even though it is technically valid between the principal and the agent.

•Vermont publishes two distinct statutory POA forms under chapter 127: 14 V.S.A. §4051 is the general statutory form (includes real-estate authority among the granted subjects), and 14 V.S.A. §4052 is a separate single-transaction real-estate POA. Use §4051 for full agency; §4052 for one-off conveyances.

•Act 64 of 2025 (S.109), effective June 12, 2025, expanded the §4051 grant-of-specific-authority menu to include exercise of elective-share rights (14 V.S.A. §319), waiver rights (14 V.S.A. §323), authority over content and catalogue of electronic communications and digital assets under chapter 125 (RUFADAA), and conveyance/revocation of an enhanced life estate deed under 27 V.S.A. chapter 6 or common law.

Advance Directive

Vt. Stat. tit. 18 §9701 et seq.

Witnesses: 2 required

Two witnesses required. 18 V.S.A. §9703(b)(1)

Notarization: Not required

Notarization is not required but may be accepted

State-specific notes

•Under §9703(c), neither the agent nor the principal's spouse, parent, adult sibling, adult child, or adult grandchild may witness the advance directive.

•Under §9702(c), the principal's health-care provider may not be the principal's agent, and (unless related by blood, marriage, civil union, or adoption) no owner, operator, employee, agent, or contractor of a residential-care facility, health-care facility, or correctional facility in which the principal resides may serve as agent.

•Under §9703(d)–(e), if the principal is being admitted to or is a resident of a nursing home, residential care facility, or hospital at the time of execution, an enumerated qualified explainer (ombudsman, clergy, attorney, court designee, hospital designee, mental-health patient representative, trained volunteer, or unaffiliated clinician) must explain the nature and effect of the advance directive and sign an affirmation; otherwise the directive is not effective.

•Remote witnessing of advance directives is permitted under §9703(b)(2), added by 2023 No. 88 (Adj. Sess.) effective April 1, 2024, when the principal and remote witness are known to each other, communication is via live audio-video or telephone, and the contact information and relationship are recorded on the directive.

Plus

6 more documents with Will.com Plus

$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.

Nomination of Conservator

Pre-nominates the person you want a court to appoint if a conservator (or guardian of the estate) is ever needed.

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.

Free vs. Plus

Free

Plus

All 4 state-specific documents

State-specific signing guide

Download as PDF, print forever

Covers real estate, business, digital, and funeral wishes

Disposition of remains authorization

Standalone HIPAA authorization

Nomination of conservator

Business succession declaration

Real-estate retitling checklist

Special needs trust provisions

Letter of instruction, pre-filled and editable

Edit anytime, stored in your account

Annual review reminder

See Will.com Plus →

Electronic will status

Vermont has not adopted electronic will legislation. A traditional paper will with physical signatures is required.

Digital assets access

Vermont 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)

Vermont authorized RON in 2022.

Will

Not allowed

Trust

Allowed

POA

Allowed

Remote online witnessing (ROW)

Vermont does not allow remote online witnessing for estate planning documents. 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 Vermont for guidance specific to your situation.

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