This is general information about how a will questionnaire works, not advice for your specific situation. Wills are governed by state law, the rules change, and your circumstances may call for a licensed attorney in your state.

Will Questionnaire: What It Actually Asks

Generic "will questions" checklists are everywhere. This is the real one on this site: all 16 steps, the three you may never see, and the nine that stop you.

What does a will questionnaire actually ask?

Sixteen steps, in this order: your state, about you, marital status, children, guardians, executor, specific gifts, everything else (the residuary), digital life, debts and expenses, final wishes, pets, exclusions, simultaneous death, a no-contest clause, and a review screen.

Three are conditional: guardians only if a child is under 18 or a child's date of birth was left blank; exclusions only if you are married or have children; simultaneous death if you are married or the residuary goes to one single person. A single person with no children sees 13 steps — 14 if they leave everything to one person, which turns the simultaneous-death step back on. Every step carries a "Why do we ask this?" panel, because nearly every question displaces a statutory default — starting with age, which is 18 in California.

Why does it ask for your state before anything else?

Because the state answer reconfigures the rest of the form. It sets the minimum-age gate — 18 under Cal. Prob. Code § 6100, but 16 in Louisiana, where a minor who has attained sixteen may make a donation mortis causa (La. Civ. Code art. 1476) — and it decides the signing ceremony:

• California: two witnesses, present at the same time (Cal. Prob. Code § 6110(c)(1)).
• Louisiana: a notarial testament before a notary public and two witnesses, signed by you, the witnesses and the notary (La. Civ. Code art. 1576 — not art. 1577, repealed by Acts 2025, No. 30, § 3).
• Pennsylvania: no witnesses required at execution — what the statute asks for is your signature at the end of the will (20 Pa.C.S. § 2502). Two witnesses must then identify that signature at probate, unless the will is self-proving, which notarization alone accomplishes (20 Pa.C.S. § 3132.1) (Montgomery County Register of Wills; full rules at Pennsylvania will requirements).
• Georgia: two witnesses who must also sign, and no notarization.

Requirements for all 51 jurisdictions are on the site: by state, by topic, or as an open data set.

Which questions stop you, and which can you skip?

Only nine steps block you. The gates, in order:

1. Your state — one must be selected.
2. About you — first and last name, city, county and date of birth (at or above your state's minimum age).
3. Marital status — a status, plus your spouse's name if married.
4. Children — a Yes/No answer, then a name and date of birth for each child listed.
5. Guardians — a guardian's name and relationship, if the step appears at all.
6. Executor — a name and a relationship.
7. Specific gifts — a Yes/No answer; answer Yes and every gift needs an item and a recipient's name before you can move on.
8. Everything else (the residuary) — a complete distribution.
9. Debts and expenses — a handling choice.

The residuary gate is strictest: percentages must total exactly 100, and a split needs at least two named people above zero. The debts gate exists because payment order is not discretionary — California pays estate debts in a fixed statutory sequence, each class in full before the next (Cal. Prob. Code § 11420).

Note what the specific-gifts gate is and is not: it does not force you to leave any gifts. It forces you to decide, because the step opens with no answer selected — "No, skip this" clears it as effectively as filling in ten gifts. The seven steps that genuinely click straight through are digital life, final wishes, pets, exclusions, simultaneous death, the no-contest clause, and the review screen.

What does it ask about your family?

Three fields per child — full legal name, date of birth, relationship (biological, adopted, stepchild) — plus a special-needs checkbox. The date of birth decides whether the guardians step appears; when it does, it asks for a guardian, a backup, and the age children inherit: 18, 21, 25, or 30.

List every child: omission is legally distinct from deliberate exclusion. In California, a child born or adopted after all of your testamentary instruments were executed, and not provided for, takes the intestate share (Cal. Prob. Code § 21620). The special-needs checkbox exists because an inheritance can cost means-tested benefits — SSI countable resources cannot exceed $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a couple (20 C.F.R. § 416.1205).

Marital status drives the spouse questions, because a spouse's elective share is state-specific — 30 percent of the elective estate in Florida (Fla. Stat. § 732.2065) versus the greater of $50,000 or one-third of the net estate in New York (N.Y. EPTL § 5-1.1-A). Nine states also use community property (IRS Publication 555).

Who gets everything else, and what if they die first?

The residuary step asks who receives whatever the specific gifts did not cover, and every specific gift forces a backup: if the recipient dies first, the gift returns to the residuary, passes to that person's children, or goes to a named alternate. Simultaneous death covers you and your main beneficiary dying in the same event.

Life events unwrite choices too: in Florida, dissolution of marriage voids every provision affecting the former spouse, and the will is read as if that spouse had died at the dissolution, subject to three exceptions (Fla. Stat. § 732.507(2)).

What does it ask about your executor?

Two yes/no decisions beyond names and an alternate: waive the bond requirement, and allow the executor to sell property. A bond is not required when the will waives it, though a court may still order one for good cause (Cal. Prob. Code § 8481), and a California personal representative holding only limited authority must obtain court supervision to sell real property (Cal. Prob. Code § 10501(b)(1)).

What does it ask about your digital accounts?

Three things: who should have access to your accounts, any instructions you want to leave them, and — only if you say you keep a password manager — where it is. The location field carries an on-screen note reading "Don't type passwords — just the location," because a will filed with the court becomes a public document. What the step is really doing is setting up fiduciary authority under California's Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (Cal. Prob. Code § 872) — and the will is not the top of that stack: a direction given through a provider's own online tool overrides a contrary direction in a will (§ 873).

Why is there a separate step for pets?

Because an animal is property and cannot inherit — so leaving money "to" a pet does nothing. The mechanism the step builds instead is a caretaker plus money for the animal's care, and California recognizes a trust for exactly that purpose (Cal. Prob. Code § 15212).

Should you add a no-contest clause?

It is worth a second look, because the clause is not enforceable everywhere. Florida will not enforce one at all: a provision penalizing an interested person for contesting a will is unenforceable (Fla. Stat. § 732.517). The step is skippable, and in a state like Florida skipping it costs you nothing.

What happens after you finish the questionnaire?

The questions produce the document; the signing ceremony is what makes it a will. California requires two witnesses present at the same time, who witness your signature or acknowledgment and understand the document is your will (Cal. Prob. Code § 6110(c)(1)). It then has to be findable: unless a petition for probate is filed first, whoever holds a California will must, within 30 days of learning of your death, deliver it to the superior court clerk (§ 8200(a)).

For the DIY-validity rules in full, read how to write a legally valid DIY will, or check estate planning by state. Otherwise — start your will.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions does a will questionnaire have? Sixteen steps here, three of them conditional — so a single person with no children sees 13 (14 if they leave everything to one person), and nine steps have gates that stop you.

Which will questions are required? Nine steps have gates: your state; first and last name, city, county and date of birth; marital status, plus your spouse's name if married; children — a Yes/No answer, then a name and date of birth for each one listed; a guardian's name and relationship if that step appears; an executor's name and relationship; specific gifts — a Yes/No answer, then an item and a recipient for each gift; a residuary totaling exactly 100 percent; and a debt-handling choice.

Will the questionnaire ask for my passwords? No. The digital-life step asks who should have access to your accounts, any instructions you want to leave, and — if you keep a password manager — where it is. The location field carries an on-screen note reading "Don't type passwords — just the location," because a will filed with the court becomes a public document.

Why does it ask for my state first? Your state sets the minimum age — 18 under Cal. Prob. Code § 6100, 16 under La. Civ. Code art. 1476 — and the signing ceremony.

Does finishing the questionnaire make my will valid? No. California validity turns on the signing: two witnesses present at the same time (Cal. Prob. Code § 6110(c)(1)). Louisiana requires a notary plus two witnesses (La. Civ. Code art. 1576).