NH Law About ...: Making a Will: Read The Law About ...

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New Hampshire Statutes

New Hampshire statute, RSA 551, sets out the requirements for creating a will. It covers who can make a will, the general requirements for making a will, the requirements for making a self-proved will, wills made outside the state, requirements regarding property and children named and unnamed in the will, revocation of a will, and requirements for wills of soldiers in active service or a mariner or seaman when at sea. RSA 551-A sets out New Hampshire’s version of the Uniform International Wills Act, giving requirements for creating a valid New Hampshire will when the person making the will is outside the United States. Another New Hampshire statute, RSA 21, says that the word “will” in New Hampshire statutes includes “codicils”, which are amendments to wills.

RSA 551. Wills
RSA 551-A. Uniform International Wills Act
RSA 21. Statutory Construction.
See RSA 21:22 Will.
RSA 552. Probate of Wills
RSA 560. Rights of Surviving Spouse
RSA 561. Descent, Distribution, and Advancements
If you are a New Hampshire domiciliary and you die without a will, those assets that were not otherwise "devised or bequeathed" will be distributed according to New Hampshire's intestacy statute, RSA 561:1.

New Hampshire Cases

Healey v. Bartlett, 73 N.H. 110 (1904)
"When a testator is not prevented by physical infirmities from seeing and hearing what goes on around him, it is the general, if not the universal, rule that his will is attested in his presence if he understands and is conscious of what the witnesses are doing when they write their names, and can, if he is so disposed, readily change his position so that he can see and hear what they do and say."
In re Estate of Fischer, 152 N.H. 669 (2005)
"The test to determine whether the will of a person who has the use of all his faculties is attested in his presence, is to inquire whether he understood what the witnesses were doing when they affixed their names to his will, and could, if he had been so disposed, readily have seen them do it."
In re Estate of Buskirk, 2017-0003 (2018)
Undue influence is the "use of such appliances and influences as take away the free will of the testator, and substitute another’s will for his, so that in fact the instrument is not the expression of the wishes of the testator in the disposition of the property, but of the wishes of another."
In re Estate of Cass, 143 N.H. 57 (1998)
"Whether undue influence exists is a question of fact to be determined based upon the surrounding facts and circumstances. Generally, a court considers “all the circumstances surrounding a disposition, including the relationship between the parties, the physical and mental condition of the donor, the reasonableness and nature of the disposition, and the personalities of the parties." The influence that a donee exerts over a donor must amount to force or coercion that alters the donor's will and must be more than the mere influence of affection. In cases where the donee acts in a fiduciary capacity to the donor, the donee has the burden of proving an absence of undue influence."
In re Estate of Washburn, 141 N.H. 658 (1997)
"The standard for testamentary capacity was articulated over a century ago in Boardman v. Woodman, 47 N.H. at 122 ... Our reading of Boardman reveals two distinct inquiries: 1) whether the testatrix possessed testamentary capacity to execute a will; and 2) if the testatrix had such capacity, whether the will is the offspring of a delusion or was executed during a lucid interval."
In re Estate of Lund, 118 N.H. 180 (1978)
For a court to set aside its approval of a will there must exist "some substantial ground, such as fraud, accident, or mistake, which renders it against conscience to execute the decree they [the parties] attack, and of which they were prevented from availing themselves by fraud, accident, or mistake, unmixed with any fraud or negligence on their part."

New Hampshire Court Rules

Rules of the Circuit Court of the State of New Hampshire -- Probate Division

Please remember that this guide is for information purposes only and is not comprehensive.
It is intended as a starting point for research, to illustrate the various sources of the law, and to provide guidance in their use.
NH Law About ... is not a substitute for the services of an attorney.