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Washington Will Requirements
Pillar GuideWashington24 min read

Washington Will Requirements

Washington will requirements under RCW 11.12.020: a signed writing plus two competent witnesses, in person or by electronic presence. No holographic wills.

By Settled Editorial

A Washington will has to be in writing, signed by the testator, and attested by two or more competent witnesses. RCW 11.12.020(1) sets all three, and it counts the testator's electronic presence the same as physical presence. Washington provides no holographic will, and it runs a full electronic wills act alongside the paper rule.

Two chapters carry the answers. Chapter 11.12 RCW is titled WILLS and covers who may sign, how the signing works, and how a will is revoked. Chapter 11.20 RCW is titled CUSTODY, PROOF, AND PROBATE OF WILLS and covers what happens to the document after the death. Every rule below was read from a section on the Washington State Legislature's live code.

Read this page as a planning map rather than a signing kit. It is general information about Washington law, not advice about your estate. Ask a licensed Washington attorney to look at any plan that involves real estate, a blended family, or a dispute you can already see coming.

This guide pairs with the Washington probate guide for what happens after a death, and with Washington intestate succession for who inherits when no valid will exists.

Who Can Make a Washington Will

RCW 11.12.010 runs one sentence: "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."

Three things live in that sentence.

  • Age eighteen. The section states no exception for a minor who is married or emancipated. Eighteen is the line.
  • Sound mind. Capacity is tested at the signing, and it is one of the issues a court hears later. RCW 11.24.010 names "the competency of the deceased to make a last will and testament" as a question the court tries in a will contest.
  • Reach. The will can dispose of the estate, both real and personal.

Capacity is one of the grounds RCW 11.24.010 lists for anyone who wants to challenge a Washington will, alongside restraint, undue influence and fraudulent representations, so the signing habits that document a sound mind are worth building in from the start.

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What Makes a Washington Will Valid

RCW 11.12.020(1) is the execution rule. Stripped of its provisos, it asks for four things.

  1. A writing. The section opens "every will shall be in writing."
  2. The testator's signature, or a signature made by some other person under the testator's direction, in the testator's presence or electronic presence.
  3. Attestation by two or more competent witnesses.
  4. The witnesses' act, done while in the presence or electronic presence of the testator and at the testator's direction or request.

Element four carries an option worth reading twice. Witnesses can attest either by subscribing their names to the will, or by signing an affidavit that complies with RCW 11.20.020(2). The affidavit route means a witness signature does not have to sit on the will itself.

Subsection (2) then reaches backward: the section applies to all wills, whenever executed, including wills already inside a pending probate proceeding.

Notice what the rule never asks for. No notary appears in it. No seal, no filing during the testator's lifetime, and no witness residency or age test on the face of the section. The word the statute does use is "competent."

A Will Signed Under Another State's Law Still Counts

RCW 11.12.020(1) carries a proviso that saves a lot of out-of-state documents. A will executed in the mode prescribed by the law of the place where it was executed, or of the testator's domicile either at the time of execution or at the time of death, is deemed legally executed and has the same force as one signed the Washington way.

So a will signed in Texas under Texas rules does not have to be re-signed after a move to Seattle. That proviso also does the quiet work of admitting handwritten wills from states that allow them.

Someone Else Can Sign the Testator's Name

RCW 11.12.030 sets the conditions on a proxy signature. The person who signs the testator's name has to subscribe their own name as well, and state that they subscribed the testator's name at the testator's request. That extra statement is waived in one case: where the testator approves the signature by making a mark on the will.

Electronic Presence Is Written Into the Statute

Remote witnessing sits inside the permanent execution statute here, with no sunset clause attached to it. The language arrived with 2021 c 140 and took effect January 1, 2022.

RCW 11.02.005(5) defines the term: "'Electronic presence' means the relationship of two or more individuals in different locations communicating in real time to the same extent as if the individuals were physically present in the same location."

RCW 11.12.020(1) closes with the practical consequence. A will executed by a testator and witnesses who are not in the same physical location, but who are in one another's electronic presence, may be executed, attested or acknowledged in counterparts, and those counterparts together count as a single document.

One asymmetry is worth holding onto. For a paper will, RCW 11.12.020(1) allows a proxy signature in the testator's presence or electronic presence. For an electronic will, RCW 11.12.440(1)(b)(ii) requires the person signing in the testator's name to be in the testator's physical presence. Same act, two different presence rules, depending on which kind of will you are signing.

An Interested Witness Does Not Void the Will

RCW 11.12.160 handles the witness who also inherits, and it does so in four steps.

  • Subsection (1) defines an interested witness as one who would receive a gift under the will.
  • Subsection (2) says the will and its provisions stay valid even when an interested witness signs. Where the will lacks at least two other subscribing witnesses who are disinterested, the gift to the subscribing witness creates a rebuttable presumption that the witness procured it by duress, menace, fraud or undue influence.
  • Subsection (3) sets the penalty if that presumption goes unrebutted. The interested witness takes only so much of the gift as does not exceed the share they would have received had the will never been established.
  • Subsection (4) confines the presumption to that one effect.

The habit that avoids all of it is cheap: pick two adults who take nothing under the will.

Washington Has No Holographic Will

Chapter 11.12 RCW contains no holographic will section. The chapter's section list runs from 11.12.010 through 11.12.491 and carries none, and the word does not appear in the chapter at all.

RCW 11.12.020(1) opens with a single carve-out, "Except as provided in RCW 11.12.400 through 11.12.491," which is the electronic wills act. Nothing else escapes the two-witness rule. An unwitnessed handwritten page signed in Washington fails element three, and the chapter carries no harmless-error or substantial-compliance section to rescue it.

Two routes still let a handwritten document work here.

  • The foreign execution proviso in RCW 11.12.020(1). A holographic will valid where it was signed, or valid under the law of the testator's domicile at signing or at death, is deemed legally executed in Washington.
  • RCW 11.20.090. A will already probated in another state, territory or country is admitted to probate here on production of a copy of the will and of the original probate record, certified by the clerk of that court, or by the judge where there is no clerk, under the officer's seal.

The Narrow Oral Will Washington Kept

RCW 11.12.025 preserves the nuncupative, or spoken, will, and it is easy to miss because chapter 11.12 RCW moved it out of the execution section in 1965. The section runs two limbs.

  • A member of the United States armed forces, or a person employed on a vessel of the United States merchant marine, may dispose of wages or personal property.
  • Any person competent to make a will may dispose of personal property worth no more than one thousand dollars.

The conditions on that route are heavy. Two witnesses present at the making have to prove it. The testator has to have bid some person present to bear witness that such was the will. The words have to be spoken during the testator's last sickness. The proof has to be offered within six months after the testamentary words were spoken. The words, or their substance, have to be committed to writing first. A citation has to issue to the widow or the heirs at law so they can contest it. And the section closes with a hard limit: no real estate passes by a nuncupative will.

Treat this as a curiosity rather than a plan. A thousand dollars of personal property, provable inside six months, is what it buys.

Proving a Will Without Live Testimony

Washington reaches the self-proving idea through RCW 11.20.020(2) rather than through a section titled "self-proved will."

Any or all of the attesting witnesses may make an affidavit before any person authorized to administer oaths, stating such facts as they would be required to testify to in court to prove the will. The request can come from the testator during life, or from the executor or any interested person after the death. That affidavit may be written on the will, or affixed to or logically associated with the will, a photographic copy of the will, or an electronic will. The court then accepts the sworn statement as if it had been taken before the court.

Read that alongside the execution rule and the payoff gets bigger. RCW 11.12.020(1) treats an affidavit complying with RCW 11.20.020(2) as an alternative to subscribing the will, so the same document can carry the attestation and the proof at once.

Washington Publishes No Form For a Paper Will

Across chapters 11.12 and 11.20 RCW, fill-in language appears in exactly one section, and it is not in chapter 11.20. RCW 11.12.450(3) prints two model forms for an electronic will: one sworn before an officer with a certificate under official seal, and one made under penalty of perjury under the law of Washington pursuant to chapter 5.50 RCW.

Chapter 11.20 RCW has no counterpart for a paper will. It tells you what the affidavit has to state and leaves the drafting to whoever prepares it. Any "Washington self-proving affidavit form" you find online is somebody's rendering of RCW 11.20.020(2), not a state document.

When a Witness Has Died, Moved or Lost Capacity

RCW 11.20.040 keeps the will alive. Subsequent incompetency of one or more subscribing witnesses, an inability to testify in open court or by commission, or absence from the state, does not prevent probate. The court may admit the will on satisfactory testimony that the handwriting of the testator and of the incompetent or absent witness is genuine, or on other facts and circumstances that tend to prove the will.

Washington's Electronic Wills Act

RCW 11.12.400 gives the short title: RCW 11.12.410 through 11.12.491 may be cited as the uniform electronic wills act. RCW 11.12.491 sets the reach, applying RCW 11.12.400 through 11.12.490 to the electronic will of a decedent who dies on or after January 1, 2022.

That date traces to the signed session law. Senate Bill 5132, chapter 140, Laws of 2021, titled TRUSTS AND ESTATES, was approved April 26, 2021, and its certification page states that sections 1001 through 1016, which include the whole electronic wills act, become effective January 1, 2022.

RCW 11.12.420 settles the status question: an electronic will is a will for all purposes of the law of this state, and Washington's general law of wills and principles of equity apply to it except as the act modifies them.

Executing One

RCW 11.12.440(1) lists the elements, subject to RCW 11.12.450(4).

ElementRCW 11.12.440(1)
The recordReadable as text at the time it is signed
The signatureBy the testator, or by another individual in the testator's name, in the testator's physical presence, and by the testator's direction
The witnessesAt least two competent witnesses, signing in the physical or electronic presence of the testator and at the testator's direction or request
The orderWitnesses sign after the testator signs, or after the testator acknowledges the signing or the will

RCW 11.12.410 defines what signing means in this act: to affix to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, an electronic sound, or process, with present intent to authenticate or adopt the record.

RCW 11.12.430 adds a choice-of-law escape. A will executed electronically but outside RCW 11.12.440(1) still counts as an electronic will here when it complies with the law of the jurisdiction where the testator was physically located at signing, or where the testator was domiciled or resided at signing or at death.

The Qualified Custodian Requirement

An electronic will becomes self-proving under RCW 11.12.450(1) only when both halves are true: the attesting witnesses' affidavits are affixed to or logically associated with the will, and a qualified custodian keeps custody of it at all times after the testator and witnesses sign.

RCW 11.12.460(1) lists who qualifies. A suitable person over eighteen who was a Washington resident when the will was signed. A trust company organized under state law, and national banks when authorized. A nonprofit corporation whose articles or bylaws permit it and that complies with Title 24 RCW. A professional service corporation, professional limited liability company or limited liability partnership organized here whose shareholders, members or partners are exclusively attorneys. And a will repository in the county where the testator is domiciled.

Subsection (2) disqualifies minors, persons of unsound mind, anyone convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude, and any individual who is an heir, beneficiary or otherwise interested in the testator's estate. It also shuts out corporations, limited liability companies and limited liability partnerships beyond the entity types subsection (1) names.

RCW 11.12.470 sets the custodian's duties at death. Within 30 days of learning the testator died, the custodian delivers the electronic will to the court having jurisdiction or to the person named as executor, along with an affidavit stating how the custodian received the will, that it was in the custodian's custody at all times, and that it has not been altered since receipt. Willful violation makes the custodian liable to any aggrieved party for the resulting damages.

RCW 11.12.480 covers the paper trail. Anyone may create a certified paper copy by affirming under penalty of perjury that the copy is complete, true and accurate. Where the electronic will was made self-proving, the certified paper copy has to include the self-proving affidavits.

The Trap: an Electronic Will With No Qualified Custodian

Storing a signed electronic will in a personal cloud folder does not carry the same weight as storing it with a qualified custodian, and the RCW says so twice.

RCW 11.20.020(3) states that an electronic will whose custody has not been maintained by a qualified custodian must be treated as a lost or destroyed will under RCW 11.20.070. RCW 11.20.070 then sets the price of that treatment. Its provisions have to be proved by clear, cogent and convincing evidence, consisting at least in part of a witness to either the contents of the will or the authenticity of a copy, with notice first given to all interested persons. The proof goes in writing, signed by the testifying witnesses, and gets filed with the clerk. If the court establishes the will, its provisions have to be stated distinctly in the judgment.

Filing a Will With the Court Before Death

Washington gives a testator a place to park the original, and the section that does it sits well past the execution rules where readers rarely reach.

RCW 11.12.265 lets any person who has custody or control of an original will, and who has not received knowledge of the testator's death, deliver that will for filing under seal to any court having jurisdiction. The rest of the section governs who can get it back.

  • The testator may withdraw the filed original on proper identification.
  • Anyone else, including an attorney-in-fact or a guardian of the testator, may withdraw it only on a court order after showing good cause.
  • The clerk unseals the file on request and presentation of a certified copy of the testator's death certificate.

The section closes by preserving two things. It does not preclude filing a will that is not under seal, and it does not alter any duty a person with knowledge of the testator's death has to file the will.

Where does it go? RCW 11.96A.040(1) gives the superior court of every county original subject matter jurisdiction over the probate of wills, so a superior court is the court having jurisdiction. RCW 11.20.050 adds the bookkeeping: all wills filed with the clerk of the superior court must be noted in the record required to be kept under RCW 36.23.030(7), and they may be withdrawn from that record on the order of the court.

The fee is set statewide. RCW 36.18.016(27) reads: "For the filing of a will or codicil under the provisions of chapter 11.12 RCW, a fee of $20 must be charged." That subsection carried the number (28) until House Bill 2543, chapter 33, Laws of 2026, renumbered it. The signed session law is titled COUNTY CLERK FEES, MODIFICATION and carries an effective date of June 11, 2026, so an older source citing subsection (28) for this fee is pointing at the same rule under its previous number.

An electronic will has a parallel option. RCW 11.12.460(1)(e) makes a will repository in the county where the testator is domiciled eligible to serve as a qualified custodian.

Revoking or Changing a Washington Will

RCW 11.12.040(1) gives exactly two methods.

  • By a later will that revokes the prior will, wholly or partly, expressly or by inconsistency.
  • By a physical act. Burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating or destroying the will, with the intent and for the purpose of revoking it, done by the testator or by another person in the testator's presence and at the testator's direction.

Where another person performs that act, the direction of the testator and the facts of the injury or destruction have to be proved by two witnesses. Subsection (2) adds that revoking a will in its entirety revokes its codicils, unless doing so would run against the testator's intent.

One life event revokes provisions without anybody touching the paper. RCW 11.12.051(1) says that when a testator's marriage or domestic partnership is dissolved, invalidated or terminated after the will was made, all provisions favoring the former spouse or former domestic partner, or granting that person any interest or power, are revoked unless the will expressly provides otherwise. The affected property passes as though the former spouse or partner had died at the time the decree was entered. Remarriage to the same person, or reregistration of the domestic partnership, revives what was revoked.

How a Washington Will Gets Admitted

A Washington will has to reach a court before it does its work. Here is the sequence the two chapters set.

Step one: the will reaches the court. RCW 11.20.010 gives anyone having custody or control of a will 30 days after learning of the testator's death to deliver it to the court having jurisdiction or to the person named in the will as executor. A named executor who holds it has 40 days from learning of the death to get it to the court. Anyone who willfully violates the section is liable to any aggrieved party for the damages the violation causes.

Step two: the court hears the proofs. RCW 11.20.020(1) lets an application for probate of the will and for letters testamentary go to the judge of the court having jurisdiction, and the court may immediately hear the proofs and either probate or reject the will as the testimony justifies. The court enters a formal order establishing and probating the will, or refusing to. All testimony supporting the will is reduced to writing, signed by the witnesses, and certified by the judge. RCW 11.20.020(2) runs in addition to that procedure, and a witness affidavit taken under it is accepted by the court as if it had been taken before the court.

Step three: the order becomes conclusive. The order stands except on a contest. RCW 11.24.010 gives an interested person four months immediately following the probate or rejection to file a petition contesting the will's validity, or to have a rejected will proven. Filing the petition, not serving it, commences the contest for the limitations period, and the petitioner then has 90 days from filing to personally serve the personal representative. Miss either and the probate or rejection becomes binding and final.

One shortcut sits inside step two. Where the application does not ask for a personal representative and the court enters an adjudication of testacy establishing the will, RCW 11.20.020(1) requires no further administration except what someone later commences under RCW 11.28.330 or RCW 11.28.340.

The Will Is One Piece of the Plan

A will is the instrument a Washington court probates, which means the property it governs travels through chapter 11.20 RCW and the administration that follows. Assets arranged to pass outside that process answer to different rules. Read what a will does not avoid before assuming the document keeps an estate out of court.

The signing document also sits beside others. Powers of attorney live in chapter 11.125 RCW, the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, and health care directives in chapter 70.122 RCW, the Natural Death Act. Start with Washington estate planning for how the set fits together.

If the will fails or never existed, the state writes the distribution instead. That path runs through Washington intestate succession.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many witnesses does a Washington will need?

Two or more competent witnesses. RCW 11.12.020(1) requires attestation by two or more competent witnesses, and it gives them two ways to attest: subscribing their names to the will, or signing an affidavit that complies with RCW 11.20.020(2). Either act has to happen while the witnesses are in the presence or electronic presence of the testator and at the testator's direction or request.

Does a Washington will have to be notarized?

No. RCW 11.12.020 sets out the whole execution rule for a paper will and never asks for a notary. An officer authorized to administer oaths matters only afterward, for the affidavit under RCW 11.20.020(2) that lets the court accept a witness's sworn statement as if it had been taken in court, and for the electronic will self-proving affidavits at RCW 11.12.450.

Is a handwritten will valid in Washington?

Not if it was signed in Washington without witnesses. Chapter 11.12 RCW carries no holographic will section, and RCW 11.12.020(1) requires attestation by two or more competent witnesses for every will except an electronic will under RCW 11.12.400 through 11.12.491. A handwritten will signed in a state whose law accepts it can still count here, because RCW 11.12.020(1) deems a will legally executed when it follows the law of the place of execution or of the testator's domicile at execution or at death.

Can you sign a Washington will over video?

Yes, within the terms RCW 11.12.020(1) sets. The testator may sign, and the witnesses may attest, in the testator's electronic presence, which RCW 11.02.005(5) defines as individuals in different locations communicating in real time to the same extent as if they were physically present together. That subsection also lets a will signed in electronic presence be executed, attested or acknowledged in counterparts, which together count as one document.

Can you file your will with the court before you die in Washington?

Yes. RCW 11.12.265 lets a person holding an original will who has no knowledge of the testator's death deliver it for filing under seal to any court having jurisdiction. The testator may withdraw it on proper identification, and anyone else, including an attorney-in-fact or guardian, needs a court order after showing good cause. The clerk unseals the file on request with a certified copy of the death certificate. RCW 36.18.016(27) charges $20 to file a will or codicil.

How does a Washington will get admitted to probate?

RCW 11.20.010 makes anyone holding the will deliver it to the court having jurisdiction or to the named executor within 30 days of learning of the death, and a named executor has 40 days to get it to the court. RCW 11.20.020(1) then lets the judge hear the proofs and enter an order establishing and probating the will or refusing it. RCW 11.96A.040(1) puts that jurisdiction in the superior court of every county.

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Information current as of August 8, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Washington can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

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