Glossary

Holographic will

A will written by hand and signed, without witnesses. Recognised in roughly half the states.

Where holographic wills are recognised, the requirements are usually that the material provisions and the signature are in the testator's own handwriting. Some states additionally require a date; others do not, and the difference is not something to assume. A few recognise them only in narrow circumstances. New York's rule covers armed-forces members in actual service during a war or armed conflict, people accompanying such a force, and mariners at sea — and it expires, generally a year after discharge. Maryland's is similarly limited to service members and additionally requires the will to be signed outside the United States. Florida rejects them firmly enough that a holographic will validly executed in another state is still void there.

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