Wills and estate planning in Nebraska

Researched 2026-10-20 · confidence: high · 2026 figures

In plain words: in Nebraska a will is valid when it's signed in front of 2 adult witnesses. There is no state estate tax. There is an inheritance tax. The federal estate tax exemption is $15,000,000 a person in 2026.

Witnesses to a will	2
Handwritten (holographic) will	Recognised
Self-proving affidavit	Available
Electronic wills	Not allowed
Power of attorney	Notary · Uniform Power of Attorney Act
Health care directive	2 witnesses or a notary
State estate tax	No
State inheritance tax	Yes
Community property	No
Age of majority / UTMA age	19 / 21

Signing a will

Statute: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2327 (holographic: § 30-2328).

The will is not invalid, but unless there is at least one disinterested witness an interested witness takes no more than their intestate share (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2330).

Each of the 2 witnesses must have seen the signing or the testator's acknowledgment of the signature or of the will (§ 30-2327). A holographic will is valid without witnesses if the signature, material provisions and date are in the testator's handwriting; a missing date can sometimes be cured (§ 30-2328). Self-proving affidavit can be made at signing or later (§ 30-2329). No electronic-wills statute was found.

Power of attorney

Statute: Nebraska Uniform Power of Attorney Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-4001 et seq. (execution § 30-4005; statutory form § 30-4041).

Unlike the model UPOAA, Nebraska makes notary acknowledgment a condition of validity: a POA under the Act 'is not valid unless it is acknowledged before a notary public' (§ 30-4005). These hot powers need an express grant (§ 30-4024): creating, amending or revoking a trust; gifts; survivorship rights; beneficiary designations; delegation; waiving joint-and-survivor annuity rights; fiduciary powers; disclaimers. An agent who is not the principal's ancestor, spouse or issue also needs express authority to benefit themselves. The statutory form (§ 30-4041) is optional and excludes health care decisions.

Health care directive

Called: Power of Attorney for Health Care; Declaration (living will).

Statute: Power of attorney for health care: Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-3401 to 30-3432 (execution § 30-3404, witnesses § 30-3405). Living will: Rights of the Terminally Ill Act, § 20-401 et seq. (execution § 20-404).

For a health care POA (§ 30-3405), the witnesses cannot include: the principal's spouse, parent, child, grandchild, sibling, presumptive heir, known devisee, attending physician, mental-health treatment team member, dating partner, the attorney in fact, or an employee of the principal's life or health insurer. No more than one witness may be an administrator or employee of a treating health care provider. The notary may not be the agent or a successor agent (§ 30-3404). For a living-will declaration (§ 20-404), no more than one witness may be a treating-provider employee and none may be an insurer employee; these limits do not apply when the declaration is notarized.

The forms are set out in statute: the health care POA form and witness declaration in § 30-3408, and the declaration form in the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act. No state-agency form URL was confirmed.

If there's no will: what a spouse gets

If all of the decedent's surviving issue are also issue of the surviving spouse, the spouse takes the first $150,000 plus one-half of the balance (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2302(3)); the spouse takes the entire estate only if no issue or parent survives.

A spouse's right to a share

The surviving spouse may elect to take any fraction up to one-half of the augmented estate (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2313).

Estate and inheritance tax

No state estate tax.

Yes, a county inheritance tax applies (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-2001 et seq.). Transfers to a surviving spouse and to relatives under age 22 are exempt. For decedents dying on or after 1 Jan 2023, parents, grandparents, siblings, children and lineal descendants pay 1% on value above $100,000 each (§ 77-2004). More remote relatives and non-relatives pay higher rates under §§ 77-2005 and 77-2006.

Probate

Uniform Probate Code state with informal (non-court-supervised) probate available. Personal property up to $100,000 (net of liens) can be collected by affidavit 30 days after death (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,125).

Money God drafts a Nebraska will, power of attorney and health care directive from a short interview, then you send it to your attorney for review before signing.

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Sources

Researched from state statutes and official forms. Laws change; this page is information, not legal advice. Every Money God draft is reviewed by a licensed attorney in your state before you sign it.