Does a will have to be notarized?

Generally no. Notarisation is about making a will self-proving — which lets it be admitted without tracking the witnesses down years later — rather than about validity. Louisiana is the exception, requiring a notary and two witnesses to execute. The table states the position for each state.

Is a handwritten will valid?

It depends on the state. Roughly half recognise holographic wills — handwritten and signed, without witnesses — and the rest do not. A few recognise them only in narrow circumstances, such as wills made by armed-forces members. The handwritten column marks which is which, with the statute.

Can a will be signed electronically?

In a growing number of states, but the detail that matters is timing: several have passed electronic wills acts with a future operative date. Until that date the statute has not started, and a will executed electronically is relying on nothing. The electronic-wills tracker separates enacted-but-not-yet-in-force from actually authorised.

Will Requirements by State

What each state’s probate code requires to execute a valid will: the minimum age, how many witnesses must sign, whether a notary is needed, whether handwritten wills count, and where electronic wills are authorised. Sortable, every cell cited to the statute and dated when it was read.

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Estimate only — not legal advice. This is the published math for will requirements by state, shown as a range. Your actual outcome depends on facts, evidence, and decisions this page cannot see.

Will execution requirements by state. Every figure is cited to the state's probate code.
					Self-proving	Statute
California	18	2	Recognised*	Not authorised	Permitted	Cal. Prob. Code §6110
Colorado	18	2	Recognised*	Authorised (UEWA)	Statutory form	Colo. Rev. Stat. §15-11-502
Florida	18*	2	Not recognised*	Authorised	Statutory form	Fla. Stat. §732.502
Illinois	18	2	Not recognised*	Authorised	Permitted	755 ILCS 5/4-3(a)
Louisiana	16*	2	Recognised*	Not authorised	Statutory form	La. Civ. Code art. 1576 (as amended by Acts 2025, No. 30)
Maryland	18*	2	Limited*	Authorised	Not recognised	Md. Est. & Trusts §4-102
New York	18	2	Limited*	Authorised from 2027	Permitted	N.Y. EPTL §3-2.1
Pennsylvania	18	None required	Recognised*	Not authorised	Statutory form	20 Pa.C.S. §2502
Texas	18*	2	Recognised*	Not authorised	Statutory form	Tex. Est. Code §251.051
Virginia	18*	2	Recognised*	Not authorised	Statutory form	Va. Code §64.2-403

Cells marked carry a qualification — hover, or open the state page, where every exception is written out. “None required” in the witness column is a real answer, not missing data: Pennsylvania executes a valid will without witnesses, and witnesses matter there for probate instead.

10 states verified. A state absent from this table is one whose probate code we have not opened — it is a gap in our reading, not in its law. Electronic wills change fastest and have their own tracker. (Will Requirements by State)

Source of record

USA.gov — Wills, estates, and probate ↗Federal

🎓 Understand this tool

What it is

A state-by-state table of what a probate code requires for a will to be validly executed: minimum age, witnesses, notarisation, self-proving affidavits, handwritten wills and electronic wills. It reports requirements. It does not explain how to write a will and does not supply language.

How it works

Each cell is transcribed from the state’s own probate code and carries that citation, plus the date someone read it. The categories are the ones states actually legislate on. Witness counts are near-universal at two, with Pennsylvania the outlier at none for validity. Notarisation is widely misunderstood: in almost every state it makes a will self-proving — meaning it can be admitted without tracking witnesses down years later — rather than making it valid. Louisiana is the exception, requiring a notary and two witnesses to execute. Roughly half of states recognise holographic wills, handwritten and unwitnessed, and a few recognise them only for armed-forces members.

Getting the most from it

Find your state. Every figure links the statute it came from, so you can read the provision yourself.
Read the witness row carefully — “none required” is a real answer where it appears, not missing data.
Check the electronic column against the tracker, which separates statutes in force from statutes enacted with a future start date.
Note the small-estate threshold if your state publishes one. It is the figure that decides whether full probate is likely to be involved at all.

Reading your result

These are execution requirements — the conditions a will must satisfy to be valid. Meeting them does not make a will a good one, does not mean it says what you intend, and does not resolve how an estate should be arranged. Requirements also change: a legislature can amend an execution rule or start an electronic wills act, which is why every cell carries the date it was verified.

What it can't tell you

This cannot draft a will, review one, tell you whether yours is valid, or tell you whether a will or a trust suits your situation. It does not cover revocation, amendment, undue influence, capacity disputes, or what happens when a will is contested. An estate attorney licensed in your state answers all of that.

Frequently asked questions

Two in almost every state, signing in the testator’s presence. Pennsylvania is the notable exception: a will can be valid there without witnesses at execution, and witnesses matter instead when the will is offered for probate. The table shows each state’s figure with the statute beside it.

Part of: What makes a will valid where you live →

Related calculators

Electronic Wills

Which states authorise electronic wills, which have passed an act that has not started yet, and which authorise nothing. The distinction matters: a post-dated statute is not law today, and signing under one before its operative date relies on a rule that has not begun.

Will vs Trust

Seven questions covering the factors estate planners commonly treat as reasons to look past a simple will — property in two states, a business, incapacity planning, contest exposure. It shows its scoring as you answer and cites your state’s small-estate threshold rather than hiding the reasoning.

Change alerts — when a state revises the guideline or deadline behind this page

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📋Will Requirements by State