Minnesota will requirements.
Document generation isn’t currently available in Minnesota while we review its rules for online legal document services. The signing requirements below still apply.
Is a self-written will legal in Minnesota?
Yes. Minnesota recognizes wills you write yourself, as long as they meet the state's signing requirements. The governing statute is Minn. Stat. §524.2-501 et seq.
Your will needs to be in writing, signed by you, and witnessed by 2 adults. You don't need a notary for the will itself to be valid, but adding a notarized "self-proving" affidavit makes the probate process faster later.
You must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind. Choose witnesses who don't inherit under your will: some states void or reduce a gift to a witness, and the exact Minnesota rule is covered below.
What it costs to make a will in Minnesota
A Minnesota estate-planning attorney typically charges $300 to $600 for a simple will, and $1,000 to $1,500 for a will-plus-revocable-trust package. Rates run higher in dense metros and lower in rural areas. Most attorneys bill at $250 to $400 per hour and need one or two meetings to draft a basic will.
You can also write a will entirely from scratch with a sheet of paper and a pen, with no software at all. Minnesota requires the same 2-witness signing process regardless of who drafts the document. The risk with a from-scratch will is technical: a missing self-proving affidavit, a witness who's also a beneficiary, or wording that creates ambiguity for the probate court.
Requirements at a glance
When you might want an attorney instead
A will says who inherits your property, who serves as your executor, and who you name to care for your minor children.
Situations in which people commonly hire an attorney:
- Your estate is large enough to trigger federal estate tax (over $15 million in 2026) or Minnesota estate or inheritance tax.
- You own a business, complex investments, or assets in multiple states or countries.
- You're in a blended family, especially if you want to leave assets to a current spouse while protecting children from a prior relationship.
- You have a child or beneficiary with special needs and want a supplemental-needs trust that won't disqualify them from public benefits.
- You expect someone to contest the will, or you're disinheriting a close family member.
- You have substantial retirement accounts and want sophisticated beneficiary planning.
Self-proving affidavit in Minnesota
Minnesota recognizes self-proving affidavits. The affidavit is attached to the will: a short statement your witnesses sign in front of a notary, swearing to what they saw when you signed.
A self-proven will skips the requirement to track down witnesses years later for the probate court. It's optional, but adding the affidavit at signing time saves your executor work.
Who can witness your will in Minnesota
Minn. Stat. §524.2-505: an individual generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will, and the signing of a will by an interested witness does not invalidate the will or any provision of it. Minnesota follows the UPC rule and has no purge statute, so a gift to an attesting witness remains effective. Using witnesses who take nothing under the will is still the safer practice.
Family changes after you sign
A child born or adopted after the will. A child who arrives after you sign, and who isn't named or accounted for in the will, is covered by Minnesota law rather than by your wishes. The safest practice is to update your will when your family changes.
Minn. Stat. §524.2-302: a will that fails to provide for a child born or adopted after it was executed leaves an omitted after-born or after-adopted child. If the testator had no child living when the will was executed, that child receives a share equal in value to what the child would have received had the testator died intestate, unless the will devised all or substantially all the estate to the other parent of the omitted child and that other parent survives the testator and is entitled to take under the will (§524.2-302(a)(1)); devises abate under §524.3-902 (§524.2-302(e)). If the testator did have one or more children living when the will was executed and the will devised property or an interest in property to one or more of them, the omitted child's share is limited to the devises made to those then-living children, computed as if the testator had included all omitted after-born and after-adopted children with the children who took under the will and given an equal share to each, of the same character (equitable or legal, present or future) so far as feasible, with those devises abating ratably and the court preserving the character of the testamentary plan to the maximum extent possible (§524.2-302(a)(2)). Neither branch applies, and neither does the believed-dead rule, if it appears from the will that the omission was intentional or the testator provided for the child by a transfer outside the will and the intent that the transfer be in lieu of a testamentary provision is shown by the testator's statements or is reasonably inferred from the amount of the transfer or other evidence (§524.2-302(b)). A living child left out solely because the testator believed the child to be dead takes a full intestate-equivalent share, subject to that same all or substantially all exception (§524.2-302(c)). Where an omitted child predeceased the testator leaving issue who survive, that issue take the omitted child's share by representation (§524.2-302(d)).
A spouse you married after signing. Updating the will after marriage avoids relying on whatever Minnesota law provides by default.
Minn. Stat. §524.2-301: a spouse who married the testator after the will was made and survives the testator receives a share of the estate equal in value to what the spouse would have received had the testator died intestate. Unlike most Uniform Probate Code states Minnesota does not narrow the base of that share; its pre-marriage-children carve-out sits in the abatement rule instead. The share is not due if provision has been made for, or waived by, the spouse by prenuptial or postnuptial agreement (§524.2-301(a)(1)); if the will or other written evidence discloses an intention not to make provision for the spouse (§524.2-301(a)(2)); if the person who was the surviving spouse at death was designated as a devisee in the will, or is the beneficiary of a trust referenced in it (§524.2-301(a)(3)); or if the testator provided for the spouse by a transfer outside the will and the intent that the transfer be in lieu of a testamentary provision is shown by the testator's written statements or may be reasonably inferred from the amount of the transfer or other evidence (§524.2-301(a)(4)). Minnesota requires those statements to be written, where the Uniform Probate Code asks only for statements. In satisfying the share, devises abate first under §524.3-902, except devises to a child of the testator born before the marriage who is not a child of the surviving spouse and substitute gifts under §524.2-603 or §524.2-604 to such a child's descendant (§524.2-301(b)).
Document generation isn’t currently available in Minnesota.