Washington: Will Execution Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Washington's will-execution rules live in the Probate and Trust Law title, RCW
chapter 11.12. The core statute is RCW 11.12.020, which requires a written will,
signed and attested by two competent witnesses. Section 11.12.010 says who may make a
will, and § 11.12.160 covers a witness who is also a beneficiary. Washington uses the
traditional common-law attested will and does not recognize holographic (handwritten,
unwitnessed) wills made in the state. It is one of a growing group of states that also
allow an electronic will and remote witnessing: a 2021 act (chapter 140, effective
January 1, 2022) wrote "electronic presence" into § 11.12.020 and added a separate
electronic-wills article at RCW 11.12.400 through 11.12.491.

Minimum age & capacity

"Any person of sound mind who has attained the age of eighteen years may, by last
will, devise all his or her estate, both real and personal" (RCW 11.12.010). You must
be 18 — Washington sets no lower age for married or emancipated minors — and of sound
mind. The statute does not spell out what "sound mind" means; Washington case law
supplies the familiar testamentary-capacity test (understanding that you are making a
will, the general nature and extent of your property, and who the natural objects of
your bounty are), measured at the time of signing.

Writing & signature

The will must be in writing and signed "by the testator or by some other person under
the testator's direction in the testator's presence or electronic presence"
(RCW 11.12.020(1)). If you cannot sign yourself, another person may sign for you, but
only at your direction and in your presence (which, in Washington, can be electronic
presence over live audio-video). There is no requirement that the signature appear at
the end of the document. The same subsection honors a will executed in the manner
required by the law of the place where it was signed or where the testator was
domiciled — so a will valid elsewhere is valid here.

Witnesses required

A Washington will must be "attested by two or more competent witnesses." Each witness
either subscribes their name to the will or signs a self-proving affidavit that
complies with RCW 11.20.020(2), and does so "while in the presence or electronic
presence of the testator and at the testator's direction or request" (RCW 11.12.020(1)).
Two features stand out. First, the witnesses must be in the testator's presence, but
the statute does not require the two witnesses to be together at the same time as each
other — a looser rule than the "present at the same time" standard some states use.
Second, "presence" can be electronic, so the witnesses need not be in the same room as
the testator. A beneficiary may serve as a witness: an interested witness does not void
the will, but unless two other disinterested witnesses also sign, the gift to that
witness is presumed to have been procured by undue influence, and if the witness cannot
rebut the presumption the gift is cut down to what they would have inherited without the
will (RCW 11.12.160).

Notarization & self-proving

A Washington will does not have to be notarized — a notary is not a witness, and
notarizing a will does nothing to meet the two-witness rule. Washington folds
self-proving into attestation itself: instead of simply subscribing the will, the two
witnesses can sign a self-proving affidavit under RCW 11.20.020(2), sworn before a
notary, either at the signing or later. A will proved that way can be admitted to
probate without bringing the witnesses in to testify.

Handwritten (holographic) wills

Washington does not recognize holographic wills. Its execution statute requires
attestation by two competent witnesses (RCW 11.12.020) and contains no exception for an
unwitnessed handwritten will, so a will handwritten and signed in Washington without
witnesses is not valid here. There is one indirect route: § 11.12.020(1) honors a will
"executed in the mode prescribed by the law of the place where executed or of the
testator's domicile," so a holographic will that was valid in a state that allows them
can still be given effect in Washington after a move.

Electronic & remote wills

Washington permits both remote witnessing and electronic wills, in effect since
January 1, 2022. Under RCW 11.12.020(1) a testator and witnesses who are "not in the
same physical location but in the electronic presence of one another" may execute,
attest, or acknowledge the will — including in counterparts that together count as one
document — so a will can be signed and witnessed over live audio-video. A separate
article, RCW 11.12.400 through 11.12.491, governs wills executed as electronic records;
its definition section defines "sign" to mean affixing "an electronic symbol, an
electronic sound, or process" to the record (RCW 11.12.410). Washington is therefore an
outlier from the majority of states, which still require a physical signed writing
witnessed in person.

Harmless-error / curative doctrine

Washington has no statutory harmless-error or substantial-compliance rule. RCW 11.12.020
lays out the execution formalities and stops there — nothing in the chapter lets a court
treat a defective will as valid on proof that the testator meant it as their will. So a
will that misses a formality (for example, one witness instead of two) cannot be rescued
by a clear-and-convincing-evidence showing of intent the way it could in a Uniform
Probate Code state that adopted the harmless-error doctrine. The practical takeaway is
that Washington's formalities have to be met the first time.

What trips people up

A handwritten will you signed alone is not valid in Washington. Washington does not
recognize holographic wills made in-state (RCW 11.12.020). Writing out your wishes by
hand and signing them without two witnesses leaves no valid Washington will — a common
and costly assumption. (A handwritten will that was valid where you made it before
moving to Washington is a different situation and may still be honored.)

There is no second chance if a formality is missed. Because Washington has no
harmless-error rule, a will with only one witness, or witnessed by people who were not
in the testator's presence, can fail outright no matter how clear it is that the
document was meant as the will. Get the two witnesses right at signing.

Electronic and remote signing is allowed, but the same core rules still apply. The
2021 changes let you sign and be witnessed over live audio-video and let a will exist
as an electronic record (RCW 11.12.020; 11.12.400–.491). They did not drop the
requirement of two competent witnesses or the testator's signature — they only changed
how "presence" and "signing" can happen.

Common questions

Does my Washington will have to be notarized? No. Washington requires two witnesses,
not a notary (RCW 11.12.020). A notary is used only if the witnesses choose to sign a
self-proving affidavit under RCW 11.20.020(2), which speeds up probate but is optional.

Can I just handwrite my will? Not in Washington. The state does not recognize
holographic wills, so a handwritten will still needs two competent witnesses to attest
it (RCW 11.12.020). A handwritten, witnessed will is fine; a handwritten, unwitnessed
one made here is not.

Can I sign my will over video? Yes. Since January 1, 2022, Washington allows the
testator and witnesses to be in each other's "electronic presence" rather than the same
room, and to sign in counterparts (RCW 11.12.020(1)). Washington also recognizes wills
executed as electronic records (RCW 11.12.400–.491).

What if only one person witnessed my will? It is likely invalid. Washington requires
two competent witnesses and has no harmless-error rule to excuse the shortfall, so a
one-witness will generally cannot be admitted to probate.

Statutes and sources

• RCW 11.12.010 — who may make a will: a person of sound mind who has attained age 18.
  https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.12.010 (accessed 2026-07-11)
• RCW 11.12.020 — core execution rule: written will, signed by the testator (or another at the testator's direction) in the testator's presence or electronic presence, attested by two or more competent witnesses; foreign-execution recognition; electronic-presence counterparts.
  https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.12.020 (accessed 2026-07-11)
• RCW 11.12.160 — interested witnesses: a gift to a witness does not void the will but is presumed procured by undue influence absent two disinterested witnesses, and if unrebutted is reduced to the witness's intestate share.
  https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.12.160 (accessed 2026-07-11)
• RCW 11.12.410 — electronic-wills definitions: "sign" includes affixing an electronic symbol, sound, or process to the record (applies throughout RCW 11.12.400–11.12.491).
  https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.12.410 (accessed 2026-07-11)