Prepare Legal Iowa Estate Planning Forms For Free

Here's how: Decide Whether to Hire a Lawyer or Write Your Own Will Online. ... Identify Your Will Beneficiaries. ... Choose a Legal Guardian for Your Child. ... Decide on an Executor for Your Estate. ... Consider Other Wishes. ... Sign Your Last Will and Testament. ... Find Two Witnesses. ... Get Your Will Notarized.

A will must be in writing, signed by the person making the will and witnessed by two people. You should visit with an attorney to find out whether you need a will and what it might include.

No, in Iowa, you do not need to notarize your will to make it legal. However, Iowa allows you to make your will "self-proving" and you'll need to go to a notary if you want to do that. A self-proving will speeds up probate because the court can accept the will without contacting the witnesses who signed it.

Handwritten Will: Also called a holographic will, this is a will written entirely in the testator's handwriting and signed by them without witnesses. Holographic wills are not valid in Iowa. However, a testator may handwrite their will and sign it if there are two witnesses.

Steps to Create a Will in Iowa Decide what property to include in your will. Decide who will inherit your property. Choose an executor to handle your estate. Choose a guardian for your children. Choose someone to manage children's property. Make your will. Sign your will in front of witnesses. Store your will safely.

Signature: The will must be signed by the testator or by someone else in the testator's name in the testator's presence, by the testator's direction. Witnesses: An Iowa will must be signed by two individuals after they witness the testator signing the will. Writing: An Iowa will must be in writing.