Knowledge & Resources
Wills and estate planning
What a will does, how to write one, and what your state requires for it to count.
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Wills and estate planning
What a will does, how to write one, and what your state requires for it to count.
California sets out what makes a will valid in Section 6110 of the Probate Code. The requirements are short, and one of the most common assumptions about them is wrong.
A California will must be in writing and signed by the testator, or signed in the testator's name by another person in their presence and at their direction, or by a conservator under a court order. It must then be witnessed by at least two people who are present at the same time, and who understand that the document they are witnessing is the testator's will. The requirement that both witnesses be present at the same time is the part people most often get wrong: witnesses signing separately, on different days, is not what the statute describes.
Cal. Prob. Code § 6110
No. Section 6110 requires witnesses, not a notary, and a California will does not become valid by being notarized. The point is made explicitly in the statutory will at Section 6240, whose own instructions state that notarization will not fulfil the witness requirement. This trips people up because a notary feels more official than two witnesses, but in California a notarized will with only one witness is not a validly executed will, while an un-notarized will with two is.
Cal. Prob. Code §§ 6110, 6240
California recognises holographic (handwritten) wills. A holographic will is valid if the signature and the material provisions are in the testator's own handwriting, and it does not need witnesses at all. That makes it a genuine fallback in an emergency, but it is a poor substitute for a witnessed will: handwritten wills are contested far more often, because there are no witnesses to establish that the testator knew what they were signing.
Cal. Prob. Code § 6111
A beneficiary can legally witness a California will, and doing so does not invalidate the will or the gift. But unless there are at least two other witnesses who inherit nothing, the gift to the witness is presumed to have been procured by duress, menace, fraud or undue influence, and the witness carries the burden of disproving it. A witness who cannot rebut that presumption keeps only as much of the gift as they would have received had there been no will at all. The practical advice costs nothing to follow: use two witnesses who inherit nothing under it.
Cal. Prob. Code § 6112
A California will can be made by anyone at least 18 years old who is of sound mind.
Cal. Prob. Code § 6100
Cal. Prob. Code § 6110 (Execution of wills). In writing, signed by the testator (or in the testator's name by another in their presence and by their direction, or by a conservator under court order), and witnessed by at least two people present at the same time who understood the instrument is the testator's will.
Links last checked 2026-08-24.
This is general information about the law, not legal advice, and it has not been reviewed by an attorney licensed in California. Requirements change. Confirm the current rules for your state before you sign.
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