How to Make a Valid Will in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania in depth

Pennsylvania is unusual: it is one of the few states that does not require any witnesses to be present when you sign your will. What the law requires is that you sign at the very end of the document (20 Pa.C.S. § 2502). Witnesses matter later — two of them are needed to prove your signature when the will is offered for probate (20 Pa.C.S. § 3132) — but they do not have to watch you sign.

That single distinction changes almost everything about how Pennsylvania wills succeed or fail. The statute facts above give you the rules. This section covers where Pennsylvania wills actually go wrong, the protections built into Pennsylvania law that you cannot draft around, and the state's distinctive inheritance tax that most people forget about.

Five ways a Pennsylvania will goes wrong

Because Pennsylvania asks so little at the signing table, the mistakes cluster around the two things it does demand — a signature at the end and someone who can later prove it. These are the recurring ones.

1. 1

   Signing anywhere but the very end

   Section 2502 requires your will to be "signed by the testator at the end thereof." This is Pennsylvania's one hard formality, and courts enforce it. Any writing placed after your signature is disregarded, so a gift or instruction sitting below the signature line can silently drop out of your plan. Pennsylvania has no harmless-error or "dispensing power" statute to rescue a misplaced signature — sign last, and sign at the bottom.

2. 2

   Signing with nobody who can ever prove the will

   Pennsylvania does not require witnesses at signing, but it does require two competent witnesses to prove the will at probate (20 Pa.C.S. § 3132). If you sign entirely alone and no one can later authenticate your signature or handwriting, your estate may have to prove the will by handwriting comparison or other evidence — slow and contestable. Having two people witness the signing anyway is the simplest insurance.

3. 3

   Skipping the self-proving affidavit

   A self-proved will lets your witnesses swear to the signing once, before a notary, so no one has to be tracked down years later to testify (20 Pa.C.S. § 3132.1). Without it, the Register of Wills may need live witness testimony to admit the will. Execute the § 3132.1 acknowledgment and affidavits at the same time you sign; it is far harder to arrange after the fact.

4. 4

   Trying to sign electronically or by video

   As of 2026 Pennsylvania has not adopted electronic wills, and its courts have refused to admit electronically signed wills, holding that the fix is the legislature's job. A scanned PDF, an e-signature, or a will "witnessed" over a video call is not a valid Pennsylvania will. The valid route is still a physical document signed in wet ink at the end (20 Pa.C.S. § 2502).

5. 5

   Ignoring the Pennsylvania inheritance tax

   Pennsylvania is one of the few states that taxes inheritances, and the rate depends on who inherits, not on the size of the estate: 0% to a spouse, 4.5% to lineal relatives (children, grandchildren, and parents), 12% to siblings, and 15% to everyone else (72 P.S. § 9116). A will that leaves property to a friend, a niece, or a sibling hands them a tax bill many people never see coming. Factor it into who you leave what.

Pennsylvania's unusual rule: witnesses prove the will, they don't watch you sign

In most states, two witnesses must be physically present and watch you sign. Pennsylvania does not work that way. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2502, a will only needs to be in writing and signed by you at the end — no witnesses are required at execution. Witnesses come in at the other end of the process: to admit the will to probate, the Register of Wills requires proof by "the oaths or affirmations of two competent witnesses" (20 Pa.C.S. § 3132).

So the witnesses prove the will; they do not validate the signing. There are two narrow exceptions where witnesses are required at execution: if you sign by making a mark, or if someone signs your name for you at your direction, that must happen before two witnesses who also sign (20 Pa.C.S. § 2502). And because Pennsylvania has no harmless-error statute, the signature-at-the-end requirement is strict — there is no judicial safety valve for a will signed in the wrong place.

You can't fully disinherit a spouse in Pennsylvania

Even if your will leaves a surviving spouse nothing, Pennsylvania gives them a right of election: they can elect to take one-third of certain property against the will (20 Pa.C.S. § 2203). That reach is deliberately broad — it captures not just property passing under the will, but certain lifetime transfers where you kept control, joint property with survivorship, and gifts made within a year of death above a small per-recipient threshold, so you cannot easily route assets around it.

Pennsylvania is not a community-property state, so there is no automatic split of marital assets — the elective share is the mechanism instead. The election is personal to the surviving spouse and must be filed within a statutory deadline, and it can be waived by agreement before or after the marriage (20 Pa.C.S. §§ 2206–2207). If your plan depends on leaving a spouse less than a third, build the elective share into the math rather than ignoring it.

Handwritten wills are valid in Pennsylvania — but sign at the end

Because Pennsylvania imposes no witness requirement at execution, a will written entirely in your own hand and signed at the end is valid — a holographic will (20 Pa.C.S. § 2502). Unlike many states, Pennsylvania does not require the handwritten portions to meet any special "material provisions" test; the ordinary execution rule applies, so what matters is that it is in writing and signed at the end.

The catch is proof. A handwritten, unwitnessed will still has to be proved at probate by two competent witnesses — here, witnesses to your handwriting and signature rather than to the signing itself (20 Pa.C.S. § 3132). A handwritten will is a genuine option in Pennsylvania, but a typed will signed in front of two witnesses with a self-proving affidavit is far easier to admit and far harder to attack.

Marriage, divorce, and a new child can rewrite your will by law

Pennsylvania automatically adjusts a stale will in three situations (20 Pa.C.S. § 2507). If you marry after signing, your new spouse takes the share they would have received had you died intestate, unless the will gives them more or was made in contemplation of the marriage (§ 2507(3)). If a child is born or adopted after the will and you did not provide for them, that child takes an intestate share unless the will shows the omission was intentional (§ 2507(4)).

Divorce cuts the other way: any provision in favor of a former spouse becomes ineffective if you divorce after making the will, or die during divorce proceedings, unless the will says the gift was meant to survive divorce (§ 2507(2)). A will can also be revoked outright by a later will or codicil, or by physically burning, tearing, canceling, or destroying it with intent to revoke (20 Pa.C.S. § 2505). The safe move is simple: revisit the will after any marriage, divorce, or new child.

Where a Pennsylvania will is proved — and the inheritance tax that follows

Pennsylvania wills are proved before the Register of Wills of the county where the decedent had their principal residence at death (20 Pa.C.S. § 3131). The Register admits the will and issues letters; contested matters and the administration of the estate are handled by the Orphans' Court division of that county's Court of Common Pleas. This is the office that applies the signature-at-the-end and two-witness-proof rules, which is exactly why those formalities carry so much weight.

Pennsylvania also imposes an inheritance tax that a will cannot write around — and it is charged to the recipients by relationship, not on the estate as a whole: 0% to a surviving spouse (and to a parent inheriting from a child 21 or younger), 4.5% to lineal relatives (children, grandchildren, and parents), 12% to siblings, and 15% to other heirs (72 P.S. § 9116). Property owned jointly between spouses is exempt, and there is a discount for paying within three months of death. Because the rate turns on who inherits, whom you name in your will directly affects how much of the gift survives the tax.

Common questions about Pennsylvania wills

Sources

• 20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 25 — Wills (full text)
• 20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 22 — Elective share of surviving spouse
• 20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 31 — Register of Wills; probate
• 20 Pa.C.S. § 2502 — Form and execution of a will (signed at the end)
• 20 Pa.C.S. § 3132.1 — Self-proved wills
• 72 P.S. § 9116 — Inheritance tax rates
• PA Department of Revenue — Inheritance Tax (rates by relationship)
• Pennsylvania Courts — Registers of Wills (by county)

Who Can Make a Will in Pennsylvania?

You must be at least 18 years old to make a will in Pennsylvania. Married minors may make a will regardless of age (20 Pa.C.S. § 2501). The testator must be of sound mind: able to understand the nature of the act, know the nature and extent of their property, and know the natural objects of their bounty

Signing Requirements

Must be in writing. Can be typed, printed, or handwritten. If you are physically unable to sign, Another person may sign the testator's name at the testator's direction and in the testator's presence. The signature must be at the end of the will (20 Pa.C.S. § 2502).

Witness Requirements in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania requires 0 witnesses. Pennsylvania does not require witnesses at execution. Two witnesses are required at probate if the will is not self-proving. No witness presence rules at execution. At probate, two witnesses must identify the testator's signature.

Interested witnesses: Since witnesses are not required at execution, this is generally not an issue

Notarization in Pennsylvania

Notarization is not required for a will to be valid in Pennsylvania. Not required. A notarized will becomes self-proving and does not need witnesses at probate

Self-Proving Affidavit

Pennsylvania allows a self-proving affidavit, which simplifies probate by eliminating the need for witnesses to testify in court. A will is self-proving if the testator's signature is notarized or if it includes an attestation clause with witnesses' signatures before a notary (20 Pa.C.S. § 3132.1)

Handwritten (Holographic) Wills

Pennsylvania does recognize holographic wills. Effectively recognized because Pennsylvania does not require witnesses at execution. A handwritten, signed will is valid as long as the testator's signature can be proved at probate

Electronic Wills

Pennsylvania does not currently recognize electronic wills. Pennsylvania does not currently have an electronic wills statute

How to Revoke a Will in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, a will can be revoked by:

• •Executing a later will or codicil that expressly or impliedly revokes the prior will
• •Physical act (burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, or destroying) by the testator or by another at the testator's direction

20 Pa.C.S. § 2505

Special Provisions in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is a separate property/common law state. Surviving spouse has an elective share of one-third of certain property (20 Pa.C.S. § 2203). Pennsylvania is unique in not requiring witnesses at the time of will execution — only a signature is needed. Pennsylvania has an inheritance tax (rates vary by relationship to decedent)

Relevant Pennsylvania Statutes

• 20 Pa.C.S. § 2501 (Who may make a will)
• 20 Pa.C.S. § 2502 (Form and execution of wills)
• 20 Pa.C.S. § 2505 (Revocation)
• 20 Pa.C.S. § 2203 (Elective share)
• 20 Pa.C.S. § 3132.1 (Self-proved wills)