To make a DIY will in Washington State, you need a written document that you sign in front of at least two competent witnesses, who then sign it themselves. You must be at least 18 and of sound mind.1Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.12 – Wills – Section: 11.12.010 Miss one of those steps and a Washington court can refuse to recognize the will at all, and your property passes under the state’s default inheritance rules instead of your wishes.
The Execution Rules You Cannot Skip
Three things make a Washington will valid: it is in writing, you sign it (or direct someone to sign for you in your presence if you physically cannot), and two or more competent witnesses sign at your request while in your presence.2Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.12 – Wills – Section: 11.12.020 Washington also allows witnesses to be in your “electronic presence,” so remote witnessing by video is permitted under the statute.
Sound mind is a lower bar than people assume. You need to understand that this document controls what happens to your property, have a general sense of what you own and who your family members are, and be acting voluntarily. No one has to certify your capacity at signing, but if the will is later challenged, that is what a court will look at.
Washington does not recognize holographic (handwritten, unwitnessed) wills. No matter how clearly you write out your wishes by hand, a document without two witness signatures fails the execution requirements.2Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.12 – Wills – Section: 11.12.020 The only exception: a handwritten will made while you lived in a state that allows them may be honored in Washington, because the statute accepts wills executed under the law of the place where they were made or where you were domiciled at the time.
What Your Will Needs to Say
A will can be short, but several pieces earn their place in nearly every one.
Name a personal representative you trust to file the will, pay your debts, and distribute your property. Name an alternate too, in case your first choice cannot serve.
Identify your beneficiaries and gifts clearly. “My wedding ring to my daughter Sarah” is a specific bequest. Whatever is left after specific gifts make up the residuary estate, and you should name a residuary beneficiary. Anything you forget to assign can end up passing under intestacy rules.
If you have children under 18, name a guardian. Without this, a court chooses one.
Include nonintervention powers. Washington lets you grant your personal representative authority to settle the estate without ongoing court supervision, which saves significant time and legal fees because they can sell property, pay debts, and distribute assets without filing a motion for each step.3Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.68.085 – Nonintervention Powers, Generally
Give debt and tax instructions. Say whether debts and taxes come out of the residuary estate or are allocated among beneficiaries. Without direction, your personal representative follows statutory defaults that may not match your intent.
Community Property Limits What You Can Give
Washington is a community property state. Most assets acquired during a marriage belong equally to both spouses, and your will controls only your half. If you and your spouse bought a house together during the marriage, your will governs your 50% interest; the other 50% already belongs to your spouse no matter what your will says.
Separate property is different. Anything you owned before the marriage, or received as a gift or inheritance during it, is yours alone to leave to anyone. For a DIY will, mentally sort each major asset into community or separate property before deciding how to distribute it. Trying to give away your spouse’s share of a community asset creates a provision that can be challenged and may fail.
Assets That Pass Outside Your Will
A large share of most people’s wealth never touches a will. Life insurance policies, 401(k)s and IRAs, payable-on-death bank accounts, transfer-on-death investment accounts, and property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship all pass directly to whoever is named on the account or deed. If your life insurance names your sister and your will leaves everything to your spouse, your sister still gets the insurance money.
Review every beneficiary designation as part of writing your will. Outdated beneficiary forms cause more unintended outcomes than badly drafted wills do, because people revise the will and forget that most of their money moves through these other channels.
Signing, Witnessing, and the Self-Proving Affidavit
Execution is where most DIY wills go wrong. Sign the document with both witnesses present, then have both witnesses sign. Your signature does not need to be notarized.4Washington Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. Will Execution The witnesses must be competent adults, signing at your direction.
Add a self-proving affidavit. This is a sworn statement from the witnesses, signed before a notary, confirming that the will was properly executed.5Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.20.020 – Application for Probate Without one, a court typically needs the witnesses to appear and confirm the will’s validity before admitting it to probate. If a witness has moved away, become incapacitated, or died by then, proving the will becomes slow and expensive. The affidavit prevents all of that for the cost of a notary fee at signing.
Store the original somewhere safe and accessible, and tell your personal representative where it is. A fireproof home safe or a safe deposit box works. Washington has no state registry for wills, so if nobody can find the original, it may be treated as if it never existed.
Choose Witnesses Who Inherit Nothing
Washington allows a beneficiary to witness a will, but it comes with a trap. If someone who inherits under the will is also a witness, and there are fewer than two other disinterested witnesses, the law presumes that the witness-beneficiary got their gift through undue influence.6Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.12.160 – Interested Witness, Effect on Will The witness can rebut that presumption, but the burden is on them. If they fail, their inheritance drops to whatever they would have received under intestacy.
Use two witnesses who get nothing under the will. A neighbor, coworker, or friend with no stake in your estate is ideal.
Keep the Will Current
You can revoke a Washington will by making a new one with an express revocation clause, by physically destroying the old document with intent to revoke it, or by executing a written revocation with the same formalities as a will. A new will with a revocation clause at the top is the cleanest approach.
A codicil is a formal amendment that modifies part of an existing will without replacing it. It needs the same signing and witnessing as the original. Codicils handle small changes, but once you’ve made two or three, start over with a new will to avoid confusion.
Divorce Automatically Cancels Gifts to an Ex
If you divorce or your domestic partnership ends after you sign a will, Washington law automatically revokes every provision benefiting your former spouse or partner.7Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.12 – Wills – Section: 11.12.051 The will is read as if the ex had died before you. Treat this as a safety net, not a plan. Write a new will after any divorce so your updated choices for beneficiaries and personal representative are clear.
Children Born After You Sign
If you have or adopt a child after signing your will and the will does not mention or provide for that child, Washington treats them as an “omitted child.” They are entitled to receive what they would have inherited if you had died without a will, unless clear and convincing evidence shows you meant to leave them out.8Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.12.091 – Omitted Child That can reshape your entire estate. Update the will after any birth or adoption.
What You Lose If You Skip the Will
Die without a valid will and your estate passes by intestate succession, a statutory formula that may not match what you wanted.9Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.04 – Descent and Distribution – Section: 11.04.015 Your spouse’s share depends on whether assets are community or separate and whether you have children or living parents. Unmarried partners, stepchildren, close friends, and charities receive nothing. The court appoints a personal representative instead of someone you chose, and the estate goes through supervised probate rather than the streamlined nonintervention process.
When DIY Is Not Enough
A DIY will works well when your situation is simple: you know who gets what, your family is uncomplicated, and your estate sits well below Washington’s estate tax threshold. Washington imposes its own estate tax, and for deaths in 2026 the filing threshold is $3,076,000 based on the gross estate.10Washington Department of Revenue. Estate Tax Tables Estates above that face graduated rates from 10% to 35%.11Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 83.100 – Estate and Transfer Tax Act The gross estate includes real estate, investment accounts, business interests, and the death benefit of life insurance policies you own, so people who do not think of themselves as wealthy can still cross the line.
Hire an attorney when any of these apply:
- Your estate is near or above $3 million and needs tax planning through trusts or lifetime gifts.
- You have a blended family: children from prior relationships, stepchildren, or multiple marriages.
- A beneficiary receives government benefits like Medicaid or SSI, and a direct inheritance would disqualify them. A special needs trust preserves both.
- You own a business and need succession planning with valuation and buy-sell agreements.
- You own real estate in another state, which may require a separate probate there.
- You intend to disinherit a child or expected heir. Vague language or silence invites a challenge; explicit drafting is harder to overturn.
For everyone else, a carefully prepared DIY will that follows Washington’s execution rules is a legally binding document. The most common reason people die without a will is not cost; it is delay. A simple will signed today protects your family far better than a perfect will you never finish.