A valid will in Pennsylvania has three requirements: the person making it must be at least 18 and of sound mind, the will must be in writing, and the testator must sign it at the end of the document. The requirements for a valid will in Pennsylvania do not include witnesses for a standard will signed by the testator, which surprises people familiar with other states’ rules. The details around alternative signatures, self-proving affidavits, and what a will can and cannot control are where most mistakes happen.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2502 – Form and Execution of a Will
Age and Mental Capacity
The person creating the will (the testator) must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2501 – Who May Make a Will Sound mind does not mean perfect mental health. Courts look at whether, at the moment of signing, you understood three things: that you were creating a document to direct where your property goes after death, what property you generally owned, and who your close family members and natural heirs were.
A person with early-stage dementia or a mental health diagnosis can still make a valid will if they met that standard on the day they signed. Capacity challenges focus on the testator’s condition on that specific day, not on general decline before or after.
Writing and Signature
Every will must be in writing. Pennsylvania does not recognize oral wills under any circumstances. The document can be typed, printed from a computer, or handwritten, but a physical written document is required.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2502 – Form and Execution of a Will
The testator must sign at the end. Anything written below the signature is simply disregarded, but the extra text does not invalidate what comes before it. Where you place the signature matters: provisions you want to be effective have to appear above your name.
When a testator is physically unable to write their name, the law allows two alternatives, and these are the only times Pennsylvania requires witnesses on a will:1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2502 – Form and Execution of a Will
- Signing by mark. The testator makes a mark such as an “X,” with their name written nearby, in front of two witnesses who then sign the will while the testator is present.
- Signing by another person. Someone else writes the testator’s name on the will, in the testator’s presence and at their specific direction. The testator must declare aloud that this is their will in front of two witnesses, who also sign in the testator’s presence.
Do You Need Witnesses
This is where Pennsylvania departs from most of the country. A will signed by the testator alone, with no witnesses, is legally valid. The statute only requires witnesses when the testator signs by mark or has someone else sign on their behalf.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2502 – Form and Execution of a Will
Skipping witnesses still creates a practical problem later. After death, the will goes to the county Register of Wills for probate. Without witnesses, the Register may need other proof that the signature is genuine, which can mean tracking down people who recognize the testator’s handwriting or hiring a handwriting expert. That costs time and money for your heirs.
The cleanest fix is a self-proving affidavit. This is a separate sworn statement, signed by the testator and two witnesses in front of a notary public. The testator confirms they signed voluntarily, and the witnesses confirm they watched the signing. Once notarized and attached to the will, the affidavit lets the Register of Wills accept the document at face value without calling witnesses to testify. Pennsylvania does not require it, but it is one of the cheapest forms of insurance an estate plan can include.
Forms Pennsylvania Does Not Accept
Pennsylvania gives no special status to holographic wills. In states that recognize them, a holographic will is a document written entirely in the testator’s handwriting that gets special treatment, often bypassing witness rules. Pennsylvania has no such category. A handwritten will is treated exactly like a typed one: it must be signed at the end to be valid, and the handwriting itself buys no extra protection.
Oral wills and nuncupative (deathbed) wills are not recognized, regardless of circumstances.
Electronic wills are not currently valid either. During the COVID-19 emergency, a temporary law allowed electronic notarization of legal documents including wills, but that authorization expired with the emergency declaration. A bill to adopt the Uniform Electronic Wills Act (SB 1138) was introduced in January 2026 and referred to the Judiciary Committee, but it has not been enacted. For now, your will must be a physical written document with a handwritten signature.
Changing or Revoking Your Will
A will that is validly made can be changed or revoked later, but only through specific methods:3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2505 – Revocation of a Will
- A later will or codicil. A new will that contradicts an earlier one replaces it. A codicil is a written amendment that changes specific parts of an existing will. Codicils must meet the same signing requirements as the original.
- A separate written revocation signed in the same manner required for wills.
- Physical destruction: burning, tearing, canceling, or otherwise destroying the will with the intent to revoke it. If someone else destroys it for you, they must do so in your presence, at your direction, and two witnesses must be able to confirm those facts.
Crossing out a line or writing “void” on one page does not reliably revoke a will. Partial physical alterations create ambiguity and can lead to expensive court disputes. If you want to change anything, execute a new will or a properly signed codicil. Revoking a later will also does not automatically bring an earlier one back; reviving an earlier will requires a written declaration of that intent or a re-execution of the original.4Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2506 – Revival of Revoked or Invalid Will
What a Valid Will Cannot Do by Itself
Meeting every validity requirement still does not give a will total control over your estate. Two limits catch people off guard.
Your Spouse’s Elective Share
Pennsylvania law gives a surviving spouse the right to claim an elective share of one-third of the deceased spouse’s estate, regardless of what the will says.5Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 2203 – Right of Election A valid will cannot completely disinherit your spouse. The surviving spouse has to actively claim the share by filing a written election with the orphans’ court within six months of death or six months after probate, whichever comes later.
The elective share reaches beyond probate assets. It can apply to certain property transferred during the marriage, assets over which the deceased kept the power to revoke, and some transfers made within the final year of life. One exception: if divorce proceedings were underway and grounds for divorce had been established before death, the elective share does not apply. Adult children, by contrast, can be disinherited; the law does not require you to leave them anything and does not require an explanation.
Assets That Pass Outside the Will
Several categories of property bypass the will entirely and transfer automatically at death:
- Joint accounts and property with survivorship rights, including real estate held as joint tenants with right of survivorship or by married couples as tenants by the entirety.
- Life insurance policies, retirement accounts (401(k)s, IRAs), and annuities, which go to whoever is named on the account’s beneficiary form.
- Bank and brokerage accounts with transfer-on-death or payable-on-death designations.
If your will leaves your retirement account to your sister but the beneficiary form on file still names your ex-spouse, your ex-spouse receives the money. The beneficiary designation wins every time. Reviewing these designations whenever you update your will is one of the most important and most frequently skipped steps.
Wills Signed in Another State
If you move to Pennsylvania with a will signed elsewhere, you generally do not need to start over. Pennsylvania will accept a will for probate if it was proved in another jurisdiction according to that jurisdiction’s laws, as long as a properly authenticated copy of both the will and the probate record is submitted to the Register of Wills.6Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 20 Section 3136 – Wills Probated Outside the Commonwealth For wills probated outside the United States, the Register may require additional evidence and can reject the will if it fails to meet Pennsylvania’s core requirements.
Even when the old will is technically valid, updating it after a move is still smart. A will drafted under another state’s laws may reference statutes or concepts that do not exist in Pennsylvania, which creates unnecessary confusion during probate.