Pennsylvania: Will Execution Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Pennsylvania's will-execution rules live in Title 20 (Decedents, Estates and
Fiduciaries), Chapter 25. The core statute is § 2502 (writing and signature at the
end); § 2501 sets who may make a will; and § 2504.1 confirms a will is valid if signed
under § 2502 or under the law where the testator was domiciled. Pennsylvania is a
structural outlier among the states: it requires no attesting witnesses to execute
an ordinary will. The old witness statute (§ 2504) was repealed. Witnesses appear
instead at probate, where § 3132 says a will is proved by two competent witnesses.

Minimum age & capacity

"Any person 18 or more years of age who is of sound mind may make a will" (§ 2501). The
statute states the age and the "sound mind" standard but does not spell it out;
Pennsylvania courts apply the familiar testamentary-capacity test — whether, at the
time of signing, the testator understood they were making a will, knew in a general way
the nature and extent of their property, and knew the persons who would naturally
inherit from them. Capacity is measured at the moment of execution.

Writing & signature

The will must be in writing and "signed by the testator at the end thereof" (§ 2502).
The signature-at-the-end rule is the load-bearing formality in Pennsylvania: the
signature must come at the physical end of the dispositive text. Writing that appears
after the signature does not invalidate what comes before it (§ 2502(1)), but anything
below the signature generally gets no effect. Two narrow exceptions bring witnesses
into the picture: if the testator signs by making a mark, or has another person
sign for them by their direction, that must be done in front of two witnesses who sign
the will (§ 2502(2)–(3)).

Witnesses required

This is what sets Pennsylvania apart. A will the testator personally signs needs no
witnesses at all to be valid. You write it, you sign it at the end, and it is a valid
will. Witnesses are required only for the two special cases above (signature by mark or
by another).

What Pennsylvania does instead is prove the will after death. Section 3132 provides that
"all wills shall be proved by the oaths or affirmations of two competent witnesses." For
a will the testator signed, those two witnesses can simply prove the testator's
signature — they do not have to be people who watched the will being signed, and there
need not be an attestation clause. In practice this means a Pennsylvania will can be
executed alone, and two people who can later identify the testator's handwriting will
prove it at the register of wills.

Notarization & self-proving

A Pennsylvania will does not need to be notarized to be valid. Notarization matters only
for the optional self-proving affidavit under § 3132.1: the testator acknowledges the
will and the witnesses swear affidavits before a notary, and the register then accepts
those affidavits "as if" the witnesses testified in person. Note the catch — § 3132.1
applies to an "attested will," one signed by witnesses. So a will that used no
witnesses (which Pennsylvania fully allows) cannot be made self-proving; to get the
probate shortcut, you have to add two witnesses at signing even though the law does not
require them for validity.

Handwritten (holographic) wills

Pennsylvania recognizes a handwritten will — but not through a special "holographic"
rule. Because no will needs witnesses, a document written entirely in your own hand and
signed at the end is simply a valid will under § 2502. There is no requirement that any
particular part be in your handwriting and no separate handwriting test, because the
witness requirement other states relax for holographic wills does not exist here to
begin with. Pennsylvania does not recognize oral (nuncupative) wills; the section that
once allowed them (§ 2503) was repealed.

Electronic & remote wills

Electronic wills are not permitted in Pennsylvania. Section 2502 requires a signed
writing, and Pennsylvania has not enacted an electronic-wills statute. A 2025–2026
bill, SB 1138, would adopt uniform provisions authorizing electronic wills and amend the
validity-of-execution and self-proving sections, but it is still in committee and is not
law. For now, a will "signed" only electronically is not valid in Pennsylvania.

Harmless-error / curative doctrine

Pennsylvania is a strict-compliance state. There is no harmless-error or
substantial-compliance statute, and the courts enforce § 2502 — especially the
signature-at-the-end requirement — literally. A will that misses a required formality
cannot be rescued by proof that the testator meant it to be their will. Because the
execution rules are so light (a signed writing, no witnesses), the flip side is that the
few rules that do exist are applied strictly.

What trips people up

"At the end" is strict. The single most litigated Pennsylvania will formality is
where the signature sits. It must be at the end of the dispositive provisions. Gifts or
clauses written below your signature generally get no effect (§ 2502(1)), and a
signature in the margin or at the top is a serious problem. Sign at the very end, after
all the giving language.

You can skip witnesses — but usually shouldn't. Pennsylvania will honor a will you
signed with no witnesses, but such a will cannot be made self-proving under § 3132.1,
and someone will have to find two people to prove your signature at the register of
wills after you die. Using two witnesses and a self-proving affidavit turns a
potentially contested proof into a routine filing.

Signing by mark or having someone sign for you changes the rules. If you cannot sign
your name and instead make a mark, or direct another person to sign for you, two
witnesses become mandatory (§ 2502(2)–(3)) — the one situation where Pennsylvania does
require witnesses at execution.

Do not wait for electronic wills. The electronic-wills bill (SB 1138) has not
passed. A will you try to sign electronically today is not valid; it must be a signed
paper writing.

Common questions

Do I really not need witnesses in Pennsylvania? Correct — for a will you sign
yourself. Section 2502 requires only a writing signed at the end by the testator.
Witnesses are needed only if you sign by mark or have someone else sign for you. That
said, adding two witnesses lets you make the will self-proving under § 3132.1 and avoids
proof problems later.

Can I just handwrite my will? Yes. A will entirely in your handwriting and signed at
the end is valid in Pennsylvania with no witnesses — there is no special holographic
form to follow, just § 2502's writing-and-signature rule.

Does my Pennsylvania will have to be notarized? No. Notarization is used only for the
optional self-proving affidavit under § 3132.1, which itself requires that the will be
witnessed. The will's validity never depends on a notary.

Can I sign my will online? No. Pennsylvania has not adopted electronic wills; a
proposed bill remains in committee. A valid will today must be a signed paper writing
under § 2502.

Statutes and sources

• 20 Pa.C.S. § 2501 — who may make a will: a person 18 or older and of sound mind.
  https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/20/00.025..HTM (accessed 2026-07-11)
• 20 Pa.C.S. § 2502 — form and execution: a writing signed by the testator at the end; mark/another-signature exceptions requiring two witnesses.
  https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/20/00.025..HTM (accessed 2026-07-11)
• 20 Pa.C.S. § 2504.1 — validity of execution under § 2502 or the law of the testator's domicile.
  https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/20/00.025..HTM (accessed 2026-07-11)
• 20 Pa.C.S. § 3132 — manner of probate: all wills proved by two competent witnesses; for a signed will, proof of the testator's signature.
  https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/20/00.031..HTM (accessed 2026-07-11)
• 20 Pa.C.S. § 3132.1 — self-proved wills: testator acknowledgment plus witness affidavits before a notary, available for an attested will.
  https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/20/00.031..HTM (accessed 2026-07-11)