Art. 2887.Notarial Testament

The notarial testament is Louisiana's most common testament form, executed before a notary and witnesses under the formalities the Civil Code sets out in Article 1576. Article 2887 rewards that formality with a shortcut at probate.

Paragraph A makes the testament self-proving, in effect, when the testator signed each separate page at the time of execution and the testament carries a declaration, either written into the testament itself or added later in an affidavit, signed by the notary and the subscribing witnesses confirming that the testator acknowledged the document as a testament and signed every page in their presence. If the testator could not sign and directed another person to sign on his behalf, the same declaration structure applies with that substitution noted. A testament meeting these conditions does not need to be proved at all; Article 2891 lets it go straight to being ordered filed and executed.

Paragraph B covers everything else: a notarial testament that does not meet Paragraph A's page-signing and declaration requirements has to be proved through witness testimony, following a familiar layered structure. Ordinarily that means the testimony of the notary and at least one subscribing witness, or of the two subscribing witnesses. If only one of them, the notary or a single witness, remains available in the state, that person's testimony alone is enough. And if the notary and all the subscribing witnesses are gone, the testament can still be proved by two credible witnesses who recognize the testator's signature, with the same affidavit option that runs through Articles 2883 to 2887.