🔑 NY: Sample Staple Affidavit

In another post, I explained that it is essential to keep staples on a will intact because tampering with them may provide grounds for object to probate. If staples have been removed and the document was re-stapled, a notarized affidavit is necessary. It should state "why they were removed (i.e. for making copies), where the document has been kept since it was executed, and that you believe that no substitutions/changes have been made since its execution."

Here is a sample staple affidavit from a New York probate in Westchester County: