in order for a will to be valid in the

state of new york it needs to be

signed by the person who’s writing the

will

in the presence of two witnesses that

need to see him sign

and they need to see each other sign as

well

when it’s done by an attorney we add

what’s called a self-proving affidavit

so essentially as officers of the court

because we are

not allowed to lie to the court

there is a rebuttable presumption if we

supervise the will execution that the

will is presumed valid rather than if

you do it on your own you have to find

these people again

to get another set of affidavits even

though they already witnessed the will

whether it was five years or 10 years or

20 years ago