Wills and estate planning in New Hampshire

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

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

Witnesses to a will	2 (a third is a common precaution here)
Handwritten (holographic) will	Not 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	No
Community property	No
Age of majority / UTMA age	18 / 21

Signing a will

Statute: RSA 551:2.

A gift to a subscribing witness, or to the witness's spouse, is void unless the will has 2 other subscribing witnesses (RSA 551:3).

Requires 2 or more credible witnesses who attest at the testator's request and in the testator's presence (RSA 551:2). Remote attestation by sight and sound is allowed only when supervised by the New Hampshire attorney who drafted the will, another NH attorney under that drafter's supervision, or a paralegal supervised by either (RSA 551:2, III). RSA 551:2, III(b) expressly does not authorize electronic wills. No holographic-will statute: handwritten wills must meet the normal witness rules. Because of RSA 551:3, use 3 witnesses whenever a beneficiary or a beneficiary's spouse might witness. Self-proving acknowledgment can be taken before a notary or justice of the peace (RSA 551:2-a).

Power of attorney

Statute: RSA 564-E, New Hampshire Uniform Power of Attorney Act (execution RSA 564-E:105; statutory form RSA 564-E:301).

A general POA must be acknowledged before a notary or other authorized officer, may not be signed electronically, and must have a signed disclosure statement, 'Information Concerning the Power of Attorney', affixed in substantially the statutory form (RSA 564-E:105). The agent must sign an acknowledgment before exercising any power (RSA 564-E:113). Hot powers needing express grant (RSA 564-E:201): trusts; gifts, which are limited to protect Medicaid eligibility; survivorship; beneficiary designations; delegation; annuity waivers; fiduciary powers; and access to electronic communications content. The statutory form (564-E:301) is optional.

Health care directive

Called: New Hampshire Advance Directive (Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and Living Will).

Statute: RSA 137-J (execution RSA 137-J:14; form RSA 137-J:20).

The witnesses cannot be: the agent or surrogate; the principal's spouse or heir at law; anyone entitled to part of the estate under a will, trust, deed or other instrument or by operation of law; or the attending practitioner or someone under that practitioner's direction. No more than one witness may be the principal's health or residential care provider or its employee (RSA 137-J:14).

A notary public or a justice of the peace may take the acknowledgment instead of witnesses. The directive 'shall be in substantially the following form' (RSA 137-J:20), so follow the statutory form closely. The URL is the statute text that contains the form; no state-agency PDF was found.

If there's no will: what a spouse gets

If all of the decedent's surviving issue are also issue of the surviving spouse and the spouse has no other surviving issue, the spouse takes the first $250,000 plus one-half of the balance (RSA 561:1, I).

A spouse's right to a share

A spouse who waives the will takes one-third of the personal and real estate (after debts and expenses) when the decedent left issue. Without issue the share is a fixed sum plus one-half of the excess (RSA 560:10).

Estate and inheritance tax

No state estate tax.

No inheritance tax.

Probate

Handled by the Circuit Court Probate Division. Waiver of administration, which drops the inventory, bond and accounting, is available with no dollar limit when a sole heir or beneficiary, or all heirs or beneficiaries, serve or consent (RSA 553:32). The old value-based small-estate procedure (RSA 553:31) was repealed effective 2006.

Official form: gc.nh.gov.

Money God drafts a New Hampshire 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.